


Dauntless

by emiliachristine



Series: Renegades [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-08-19 14:58:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16536809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emiliachristine/pseuds/emiliachristine
Summary: Jacqueline Lewis has known SHIELD her entire life. So, it was no surprise when she became an Agent. However, everything changed when the body of Steve Rogers was found… and he was very much alive. Tasked by Fury, she helps Steve with his reintegration into modern day. But when Loki appears with an army of aliens at his disposal, Jacqueline and the newly formed Avengers must work together to stop an actual alien invasion.





	1. Welcome Back, Captain Rogers

_New York City, New York, 2012_

_…_

"How is he doing?" Jacqueline's eyes scanned the monitors, the image of a sleeping Steve Rogers was the only constant feed on the screen. It was the image she had been viewing for the past few weeks after Fury put her on this.

"He's still doing good. Vitals are fine. It's just all about waiting for him to wake up."

The agent nodded, her eyes still glued to the screen.

It had been a long few weeks. The time that was spent just staring at screens, being met with nothing different. The day that Steve's body was brought to headquarters was filled with calm curiosity. Everyone knew who was being brought in and the building was alive with chatter. Almost seventy years had passed since Rogers disappeared. Howard Stark had conducted a search to find his body, coming up with everything _except_ him. An outcome that devastated so many people. It wasn't until a year ago, Fury had authorized another search for Steve's body and it was a success. Jacqueline could recall the moment she heard the news. Fury had been briefing her about the search’s progress when Coulson called.

_"They found him."_

Jacqueline felt like she was short of breath. They actually found him. She didn't necessarily know what they would find. It was going to go two ways: they find the body, or they don't. The finding, however, left her a little confused. Her reaction to the old mystery surrounding his disappearance finally being answered was bland. She didn't know what to think. Everyone around her was relieved, happy even. Perhaps, it was just the shock that he was actually found that kept her from feeling anything else. This was a man who she had only heard about from Peggy’s stories. She only knew the myth that was Steve Rogers. The image of him that had been forever immortalized by the people. That is what she grew up with. Rumors about what happened to him was a constant topic.

It was only when she saw his body upon its arrival did it finally sink in. This was Steve Rogers, _Captain America_. The man that the entire country had deemed a hero and his disappearance mourned. He became larger than life which is what America was good at: martyring beloved figures into immortality. But, he wasn't dead. He was very much alive, having only been preserved in the ice. An extreme case of hibernation for a human being. Fury immediately had him interred in a controlled setting. A room that was built to take on a 1940's environment, so that when he did wake up, it would be easier for them to give the information.

That was when Jacqueline’s main job officially started. She was to keep an eye on him, along with her team who were stationed to monitor him around the clock. She was there to check in periodically and relay the information over to Fury. Each time she went to check on him the feeling of anticipation became more prominent. She couldn’t help but think if this would be the day he’d wake up. Or was he just going to remain in a constant sleep? She didn't know which would be best for _him_.

A silent breath emitted from the agent. Perhaps the latter would be. If he were to wake up, he would have to acquaint himself with an entirely new time. Everything is different. Nearly everyone he knew was gone. She can't imagine how confusing and scary it would be to wake up in a world he doesn't recognize.

"Lewis?"

Jacqueline was startled out of her thoughts and focused her attention on Briggs who was looking at her, "Yeah?"

He indicated on the screen and shrugged, "There isn't much for you to see here."

"Right, sorry." She scanned the screens one more time, then tapped him on the shoulder. She was hoping that there _would_ be something else. That if she just stared at the screen a little longer he would wake up. "If there’s any change, just notify me, alright?"

"Got it."

Without skipping a beat, Jacqueline exited the monitoring room and quietly made her way down the hallway. This particular hallway was empty, as it should be. Only a few select people were allowed down this way. Jacqueline is one of them. It was quiet, which she was used to on her trips down here. And quiet was something that was slowly becoming a foreign notion to her. S.H.I.E.L.D. brought a swarm of chaos into her life that is merciless. Sometimes, she just longed for peace and quiet. Her moment of quiet would soon be over. After swiping her I.D., she stepped out into the main lobby of the building. The area was huge, the ceilings towered at a high level, people were walking or standing in groups talking, their voices created a cacophony of noises that was instantly familiar to her.

She was venturing towards the employee lounge for much needed caffeine. Sleep wasn't something she had been getting the past week or so. Nothing in her personal life was making her sleep patterns abnormal, this was something that happens a couple of times every few months. It would last for a couple of weeks before getting back to its regular schedule. Alex, one of her co-workers, suggested getting sleeping pills to which she immediately rejected. She didn't need pills. In a couple of days or so, it should all go back to normal.

"Jackie."

She glanced behind her to see Alex briskily making his way over to her. Speaking of the devil. Jacqueline didn't stop, she slowed down enough to allow him to catch up with her.

He took one glance at her and let out a hum. "Well, don't you look exhausted."

_Thanks for that_ , she thought. "Why do you think I'm heading to the lounge?"

"Ah, yes, your daily dose of caffeine, how could I forget?"

"I don't drink that much caffeine." Her defense was weak because it wasn't the truth. Jacqueline could go through four or five cups. Sometimes even more. That's how everyone knew her sleep schedule was out of sync. But, Alex was the only one who was able to tease her about it.

The weak rebuttal only made him smile, the smile that could make other women swoon over him. She noticed it every time she was with him. Whether they were at headquarters or out at other locations, women always had to take a second look at him. Jacqueline could only meet this with an eye roll, but she could see why they would. He wasn't that bad looking; his dark brown hair was always kept neatly trimmed, and his eyes were a deep blue, and that bright smile. Yeah, he was eye candy for some.

"How's the captain?" Alex made no remark until they were in the lobby. Perhaps he was debating with himself about whether he should ask her about it. Watching over someone who was sleeping wasn't exactly the most exciting thing to be doing.

Reaching for a Styrofoam cup, Jacqueline scoffed while pouring out the coffee, "How do you think? He's been asleep since they brought him back. There has been no serious progress in his condition."

"That is until he wakes up." Alex clarified, pouring himself a cup as well.

She pointed a finger at him as she took a drink, "That's the key word right there, until."

The way she said it made Alex a little confused. She sounded doubtful. "You don't think he's going to wake up?"

"It doesn't matter what I think," she dusted off some lint that was left on her blazer. "I just need to check up on him every so often and report it back to Fury." She honestly didn't know why Fury insisted on it. Every day, she reported the exact same thing and he takes the information as if it was new or useful. Every once in a while Jacqueline thought that maybe he was just testing her. But, no. Then again, finding a man who was still alive after being frozen for seventy years, it makes sense as to why he needed her to do this.

Her phone began to vibrate. Pulling it out from her pocket, her eyebrows raised at the name and Alex was allowed a quick glance at the screen, it was Fury. "You might want to answer it." Alex sounded like he thought she wasn't going to.

"I know," Jacqueline stepped away and answered the call, "Yes, sir."

_"Lewis, how's the captain?"_

"Fine, as usual, sir, his vitals are good, everything is stable."

_"You don't sound so enthusiastic, Lewis."_

Jacqueline shrugged her shoulders, "With all due respect sir, it's been the same report since he arrived in New York. Nothing has changed."

_"Keep a close watch him, Lewis. That's what I assigned you to do."_

Nodding silently, she answered, "Yes, sir."

_"I'm back at headquarters now for a briefing. Afterward, I need to speak with you about Rogers."_

At this, Jacqueline shifted in her stance; shoulders leveled out and back straightened. "Is there something wrong?"

_"It's not a serious matter, Lewis. Just something that we need to discuss."_

"Very well." She wasn't going to get anything else out of him. "I'll let you know if there is any change in his condition."

_"Understood."_

At that, Jacqueline pulled the phone away and ended the call. He needed to talk to her about Rogers. What else is there for her to know? He clearly said that it wasn't anything serious, that should give her some kind of relief. But, it still didn't give her any kind of answers, nor did it settle her anxiety.

"Is everything alright?"

Alex's question snapped Jacqueline back to reality. She immediately turned around and stashed the phone back into her pocket. "Yeah. Fury is here for a briefing." She cut the answer short, he didn't need to know the other half of their short conversation.

"Briefing." He repeated the word and then eyes widened with realization. "Shit." He quickly discarded his coffee cup, "I need to be there." On his way towards the door, he turned to look back at Jacqueline, "make sure you drink all of that."

She raised her cup up to him in affirmation, "You don't need to tell me twice. Go or you won't make it."

Flashing his signature smile, Alex pulled open the door and slipped out. Jacqueline was left alone to drink the rest of her coffee and to…sit in silence. She had no briefings to attend and she was supposed to check on Steve in an hour or so. She had time to kill. Vouching for staying in the lounge, she pulled out a chair at one of the tables, intent on finishing her coffee. She was going to need all the caffeine she could obtain.

* * *

An hour had passed. Drinking her coffee and allowing herself to have a moment to relax did alot for her. Granted she still felt tired, but there was more energy flowing through her veins. No doubt that it came from all that caffeine. Regardless, stepping out of the lounge, she was ready...to go check on Steve. It wasn’t the most thrilling thing on her list but it was something to keep her busy. She didn't expect there to be anything new. If there was, she would have been notified.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, Jacqueline could feel her phone going off in her pocket. Pausing entirely, Jacqueline pulled out her phone and answered the call. "Yeah?"

_"Lewis? This is Briggs."_

"Briggs, has there been any change in Rogers' condition?"

Silence.

That was kind of odd. Jacqueline was just standing in the middle of the main lobby, with the phone up to her ear. The other agents probably thought it was a little strange seeing her like that. Realizing this, she stepped over towards the wall, lessening the attention she was receiving. "Hello?" This time she could hear a small commotion ensuing in the background, yelling to be exact. "Briggs?"

Still nothing.

Jacqueline pursed her lips in frustration. "Briggs!" She tried again and she heard the phone being fumbled around with on the other end. "Briggs…"

_"He's awake Lewis! Rogers is awake! He broke out and is headed towards the main lobby!"_

The words didn't register at first. She was silent, her body leaned up against the wall, unable to form sentences. She couldn't answer him. Briggs calling out her name on the other end didn't snap her out of it. He was awake. He's heading for the main lobby.

As if on cue, she looked to her left and there he was, Steve Rogers, wearing a simple white t-shirt and beige cargo pants. Hair slightly disheveled and every part of him was tense. Jacqueline recognized it right away. The way he was moving and holding himself \\. He was scared. Steve looked wildly around him and turned to face directly at Jacqueline and their eyes locked on each other.

Jacqueline stepped away from the wall, her hand that was still grasping the phone slowly went limp by her side. He was awake. Fully alive in front of her. Everything around her slowed down, her body went numb with shock, and her mind went blank. Any and all stories she had heard about Steve Rogers were suddenly lost in the vacuum that was her mind. Like Peggy always told Jacqueline, focus on the actual man, not the myth. Well, the man was standing right in front of her. He wasn't a myth, he was real.

_All agents! Code 13! All agents, code 13!_

The words started out as low, garbled noises when she first heard them. Then, they gradually grew louder, more clear until they were fully ringing in her ear. That’s was when she felt it. The adrenaline searing through her veins. It brought all of her senses back to life. She regained the use of her legs and started running after him. "Captain Rogers!" Her voice cut through all the yelling.

That didn't have the desired effect. Not only was she starting to go after him, all the other agents now had their eyes set on him. He turned and ran.

"Captain Rogers, wait!" Jacqueline called out again, desperate to get him to stop and trying her best to stay ahead of the group that was running with her.

She chased him all the way towards the entrance, calling his name at the same time, but stopped once she realized where he was heading. Immediately, she turned around and found a group of security personnel. "Call Fury, and get the cars out there now, he's heading towards Times Square, Go!"

As the personnel took off, Jacqueline pushed her way through the crowd, everyone was all over the place. She had to go find out what exactly happened. What made Steve tick? Finally getting to a clear area, Fury was calling her. Right on time.

"Yes, sir." She was quick to answer this call.

_"What happened?"_

She was short of breath from her run, she had to brace a hand against the wall to catch her breath. "I have no idea; I'm heading back there now to see what happened."

_"I'm heading out towards Times Square now, we'll get him back. I'll touch back soon."_

"Understood."

Jacqueline stowed away the phone back into her pocket and ran for the metal doors that led to the monitoring station. After swiping her card, she pushed open the doors and sprinted down the rest of the hallway. Instead of going straight to the monitoring room, she stopped at the open entrance to Steve’s room, her shoes skidded against the floor as she came to a halt. Several people were inside, the wall was busted open with a gigantic hole that was ever so present and two guards were being attended to.

"Briggs." The guard turned, all of his attention was on her, waiting for either instruction or some kind of scolding. But, Jacqueline only met him with one question. "What the hell happened?"

"He woke up." Jacqueline threw a look at him, _I know he woke up_ , were the unsaid words. He quickly noticed this and scrambled for the right explanation. "Agent Howard was the one who went in to speak with him." Briggs pointed at the women dressed in 1940's attire.

Jacqueline wasted no time. She quickly approached her, the agent seemed to be a little shaken by all that had just happened. Made sense. "Agent Howard, I need you to tell me what happened."

"He knew there was something wrong."

That was straight to the point. "What do you mean?"

"The game that we were broadcasting on the radio, he was at that game."

_Shit._ Jacqueline's eyes closed and her head hung down. Something that was so simple and minimal was what blew the cover right off. That was a detail they didn't even think to consider. It was such a long stretch as well. Who knew that the game they would be playing just happened to be the same game he attended? Still, it should have at least crossed their mind.

"Okay," she exhaled a long breath and ran a hand through her hair. "Then what made him create that?" She pointed at the huge hole in the wall.

"I called in for security when he got too close. I didn't know what he was going to do."

Jacqueline nodded, surveying the damage, "he was probably scared, top that off with confused as well."

"It was nothing too serious, Lewis." Briggs pointed out.

"It may not be that serious, but we were hoping to do all of this smoothly." The three of them stood in silence, surveying the two guards who were getting checked out. Finally, Jacqueline cleared her throat. "Okay, well, just make sure this place gets cleaned up and make sure those two are alright."

"Got it, Lewis."

She made a hasty exit. What a day this has been.

Weeks of monitoring Steve has finally been paid off... in a sense. Everyone anticipated when he would wake up, it was the subject of small chatter among the other agents. Now, not only did he wake up, but he broke out. She was fairly certain that it wasn't just her who was surprised at this. Everyone was expecting a smooth transition when it came to relaying the information to Rogers. That clearly didn't happen, since all of the agents answered to a code 13. Jacqueline couldn't really be angry about it or blame him. If she were in his position, she would flip shit as well.

She bit her lip, recalling the look on his face when he saw her. Panic, confusion, fear. This was a man that she grew up hearing about. All of the stories that were passed around. She grew up with the martyred image of Steve Rogers, the image that was held on such a high pedestal. Peggy was her source of information about him. About who he really was and what he was like. Always look at the man, not the myth. Of course, that was a little hard for Jacqueline to do. When all that she was surrounded by was nothing but a representation of him. But, she had her first experience with him. She stared him directly in the eyes and she only saw a man—nothing more. A man who was living in a time that had moved on without him.

Where does he go from here?

Halfway down the hallway, Fury called Jacqueline, telling her that they had found Steve and they were bringing him back to headquarters. At least Fury was able to calm him down.

_"Make sure one of the meeting rooms is cleared. Be there in ten minutes with his file."_

"Yes, sir."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a story I've been writing for the past two years over on ff.net, and I just recently made an account here to start posting this story here as well. Dauntless is already completed over on the other sight, so all I need to do is edit the chapters before posting. If I'm lucky, I should be able to post these chapters once every week. I've already started posting book two so I'm hoping to get this done rather quickly! 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed it!!


	2. A Meeting Seventy Years In The Making

She checked her watch. Right on time.

Getting Steve's file was a little hectic. Everyone was still gathering themselves after Rogers escaped and some of them got into Jacqueline's way. Alex didn't make it any better. He was asking questions, completely distracting her from getting to the conference room. She had to tell Alex to leave her the hell alone, not exactly in those words but he got the memo.

Reaching the hallway towards the conference room, her arm clutched Steve's file closer to her chest. She felt—nervous. Why did she feel nervous? She was just going to relay information to Steve it wasn't that big of a deal. Only one thing. _It was Steve Rogers_. She had spent the past few weeks watching him sleep on screen monitors. Not once did she ever think about an eventual meeting between them. That stare down they had in the lobby didn't count. At least, not in her book.

_Pull yourself together._

She stopped right in front of the conference room door, the security guard standing next to it merely stared at her. And with a nod of her head, he opened the door granting her access to the room. It was nicely lit, the long mahogany table was still shiny, this room hadn't been used yet. At the far end of the table, Steve was sitting in the head chair with Fury standing a few inches away from him, and a guard was standing behind Steve. Jacqueline remained in her spot—in front of the door, taking in the sight of Steve Rogers. This time, she was able to get a real good look at him, without having the disadvantage of running after him.

It wasn't until Fury cleared his throat did Jacqueline snap out of her daze. She quickly apologized and walked over until she was standing behind Fury, making sure they still had room between them. But as she placed the folder on the table, she noticed that Steve was simply staring at her. The look of recognition filtered from his eyes.

"I saw you," he began but stopped before finishing. Jacqueline knew what he was talking about.

"Yes. In the lobby before you escaped the building."

Steve nodded, his eyes scanning over her features for a brief moment. Something about her felt… familiar. He couldn’t pinpoint it.  

"Cap," Fury began. "This is Agent Lewis. She was head of the team who was to monitor you upon your arrival in New York."

Both Jacqueline and Steve leaned forward, their hands entwining in a firm shake.

"It's a great honor to finally meet you, Captain Rogers." She waited until he was settled back into his seat, before continuing. "I would just like to apologize for what happened back there. That wasn't how we planned on revealing all of this to you."

"The game gave it away."

The words were so mundane, it made him sound so lost and confused. Jacqueline hummed at her recollection of that small detail she never thought of. "It did, didn't it?"

He raised an eyebrow and gazed up at her, "You were tasked with watching me when I was brought here?"

She gave a single nod. "That's correct."

He hummed and stared at his hands, which were tapping against the table, "That must have been boring."

Her head tilted to the side, "I'm sorry?"

His gaze was back on her and she could feel a breath hitch in her throat. She could see all of his emotions through his eyes. Fear, confusion, sadness. Yet, his eyes were gentle. How could he feel a cocktail of these emotions and retain this kind of image? "Watching me sleep," he clarified. "That couldn't have been the most exciting thing."

Jacqueline smiled, not taking care of how much of it was showing. "It was part of my job."

Silence is what greeted them next. Fury and Jacqueline didn't try to push Steve into a conversation. They were allowing the reality of Steve's situation to sink in. He needed every second to grasp what was happening to him.

"Seventy years," he finally said, "I've been asleep for seventy years."

"That's correct, Cap." Fury answered.

"What happened to me?"

Fury glanced back at Jacqueline, giving her the silent cue to which she nodded in affirmation. She pulled out a chair and sat across from Steve. "Let's start off simple, what's the last thing you remember?" She was going to start off easy.

His brows knitted in thought, fragments of his memories were coming back. "I was piloting the plane; it was heading for New York. The Tesseract was on board the plane, but it burned through the floor and fell into the ocean."

Jacqueline remained quiet, her lips pursed together, thinking that it must be difficult for him to recollect all of these memories.

"It was going too fast; I couldn't think of a plan to stop it in time. I had to make a quick decision—crash the ship into the Arctic. And that's what I did."

She swallowed hard. "And that's the last thing you remember?"

Steve nodded.

"You crashed the ship into the Arctic, but it didn't kill you. Your body was only preserved. Think of it as a really long hibernation."

One thing suddenly came to Steve's thoughts. "I was asleep for seventy years and only now someone decided to start looking for me?"

"No," Jacqueline pushed over the file to him. "Howard Stark, I'm sure you remember him. After the crash, he sent out multiple teams to start searches to recover your body. But he came up empty-handed, each time." God, what this must have felt like for Steve? Hearing that his friends searched for him, after his disappearance and never found him. How many times did they search? How much of their time did they spend? Only to have their hopes violently crushed when they never found him. "The searches eventually stopped." She studied him carefully. He was looking through the file, jaw hardened as he read the papers. If there was any indication that he would break, he was doing a damn good job of hiding it.

"Everyone just moved on." He solemnly offered.

A swell of sympathy washed over her. No one, not her or Fury, could find any kind of relation to his situation. She wanted to say something, anything that could give him some comfort, but what? Telling him, _I understand_ , would be incredibly misleading. She had no idea of what this must feel like. It was already difficult thinking of what to say to him. The last thing that Jacqueline wanted to do was upset him anymore. It was almost like walking on eggshells around him.

"All searches ceased until Fury authorized another search about a year ago." Steve abandoned the file and gave Jacqueline his full attention. "We were successful after a changing in the landscape caught our attention. A team was dispatched to Greenland, where they discovered The Valkyrie. Upon inspecting the ship, they found your body inside, preserved and very much alive."

His brows knitted together. "Who is they? What is this place, then?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D.," Fury answered. "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. We're an agency that is tasked with maintaining global security, making sure that everyone is protected. Stark, Phillips, and Carter founded this agency shortly after the war ended."

The mentioning of Peggy captured Steve's attention. He sat up in his seat, "Carter. Peggy Carter, right?"

"Yes."

She bit down on her lip, taking a moment to survey Steve's reaction. Plain shock. Peggy was able to move forward with the time. She helped create a new organization and got to live out her life, while Steve was missing somewhere in the Arctic. The two didn't go together. "That means we're on your side, Captain Rogers." Jacqueline threw in another assurance.

Jacqueline thought that Fury would hold back on the subject of Peggy. Not indefinitely, but until it was the right time to mention it. However, Jacqueline didn't know how to judge when was the right time with this situation. Some might think giving Steve all the information up front would be best. Why hold back? That wasn't a good idea. Those who think that aren't taking into consideration how well Steve would be able to process it all. She had spoken with Fury while Steve was still asleep. They would slowly feed him the information, bit by bit.

Steve had gone quiet, mulling over Fury's words. His attention was back on the abandoned file in front of him. "Seventy years," he repeated. "I've been gone for that long. What happened?"

"What do you mean?" Jacqueline asked.

"There's seventy years worth of history that I missed out on, what happened?"

Fury laced his hands together behind his back and approached Steve, "That will have to be saved for another time Cap. Right now I think you should take time to process the information we have already given you. It's a lot to take in."

Jacqueline gave her own approval when her eyes met Steve's. This information was enough for now. Pouring everything on him at once would just overwhelm him and that's not what they wanted.

Steve didn’t argue… he couldn’t. It really _was_ a lot to take in, he wasn’t sure what to say or how to feel about it all. "What now?" He needed guidance. He needed someone to point him in the right direction, he was so lost.

"Now, we will be sending you to a secure location. Give you some time to recuperate. Tonight, you'll stay in a temporary place until we're ready to move you. It shouldn't take more than a few days to get it ready."

Steve didn't answer Fury, he sat in his seat, completely still, gaze fixed on the table. Fury waited a moment before asking, "Is there anything else we can do for you, Cap?"

Steve took time to consider. He had a lot he wanted to ask, there was a lot that still didn't make sense to him. Some of the questions he had might not even have answers. All he could think about was, why didn't the crash just kill him? If it did, he wouldn't have to be here, dealing with all of this.

He shook his head. Jacqueline couldn't help but noticed how tired he looked. Strange, since he's been asleep for so long. It was just the weight of all of this that was crushing him. The bitter reality of it all. It was a hard pill to swallow.

Fury nodded at the guard, signaling for Steve to be escorted out of the room. Getting up from his seat, Steve made no hassle about it. He was quiet, not wanting to say anything, he just wanted time on his own. But, Jacqueline couldn't help herself.

"Captain Rogers," she stood up from her seat and turned, waiting for Steve to look at her. For a split moment, when his eyes settled on her, she forgot what she was going to say. He was starting to have that effect on her. Fast thinking was required at that moment. "I know that all of this must be very difficult and confusing for you. I would like for you to know that we will be doing whatever we can to help you through this."

He didn't express his appreciation with words. Only a small nod. The gratitude, however faint, was visible. He wasn't in a position to deny help, no matter what form it came in. He was going to need as much as possible.

When the door finally closed, Jacqueline and Fury were left alone in the conference room. Rubbing the back of her neck, she turned back to Fury and paused at the look he was giving her. "What?"

"Those were some reassuring words you gave him."

She merely shrugged off his statement. "He needed it." Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned against the table. "You're sending him to the safe house in Vancouver, aren't you?"

"It's the closest one to us." He pointed out, which made Jacqueline nod. "That also reminds me, I mentioned earlier that I needed to talk to you about Rogers." Finally, she was going to be getting a proper answer from him. "I'm sending you with him, to Vancouver."

That wasn't what she was expecting to hear. Jacqueline merely blinked at his words, unable to process them in their entirety. "I'm sorry, sir. You're sending me up to Vancouver with Rogers?"

"That is what I said." Fury saw her reaction: brows furrowed and lips slightly parted. "Is there something wrong, Lewis?"

"Sir, I really think we should reconsider that choice."

Fury nodded with an obvious look on his face. "Why?"

"He doesn't know me sir and I don't think sending him away to a safe house with a complete stranger is going to make the situation any better."

"You told him that we would do anything to help him."

Her eyes widened slightly, "I said that _we_ would do anything to help him."

"That's why I'm sending you up there with him. This is a different time for him, he's going to need someone to guide him. Show him the strings of how things are done nowadays."

She shook her head, vehemently. "I don't think I'm the one for it."

"You already have experience watching him."

 _Oh, what a clever statement, Fury._ "He was sleeping the entire time, that's a whole different story."

"You two have already made acquaintances. Besides, we need someone uniquely qualified to keep an eye on him for a while."

Need someone to keep an eye on him? She wasn't going to spy on Rogers, the poor guy doesn't need some random agent snooping around him. "Then why don't you set him up in an apartment and station an agent across from him." _I just contradicted myself_ , she bitterly thought.

"Who says I won't do that?"

She didn't like this. Being up at a safe house with Steve, just the two of them, it had _not a good idea_ written all over it. "The safe house is only temporary: a week, maybe a little longer," Fury added when he saw that she was garnering a new argument. "You just need to keep an eye on him. Give him a helping hand. I'm sure he would appreciate it."

"I don't know, sir." A hand washed down her face, both in exhaustion and contemplation.

"It's not a vacation, Lewis. This is an order I'm giving you, it's part of your job. I made you head of the team to watch him. As head of the team, you need to do this. I don't trust anyone more than you to handle Rogers' recuperation."

He pulled that card, which didn't surprise her. He was right. This was her job, Fury had given her a task and she needed to follow through with it, which meant, She was going to be spending some awkward time with Steve Rogers. God, this wasn't going to end well.

Finally, Jacqueline nodded and cleared her throat, "Alright. I'll take Rogers up to the safe house."

"Good." Fury turned and walked towards the door, stopping briefly to look back at her, "I think you should brush up on your knowledge of American history."

* * *

The walk up the pathway of her parent's home was short. The neighborhood was starting to grow dark, the sun was just starting to dip behind the horizon. Instead of going straight to her apartment, she vouched for visiting her parents. After the day she's had, she could use some of that family time.

She used the spare key her mother had given her to unlock the door and walked in. The scent of apples and cinnamon was the first thing that greeted her. It made her smile. That had always been her mother's favorite candle scent and it was the only candle that was used in their home. That smell would be the first thing Jacqueline always thought of when she thought about home.

Slipping her shoes off, she slipped the key into her pocket and called out, "Mom!"

The living room was the first room that anyone saw when visiting, then a hallway that led to the kitchen and a staircase that led upstairs. Everything was perfectly decorated. Her mother's favorite artwork covered the walls, and the fireplace mantle in the living room was overflowing with family photos. Jacqueline learned at a young age that her mom had a knack for decorating.

"Mom!" She tried calling out again and could hear dishes clinking in the kitchen, then footsteps.

The familiar face of her mother appeared in the kitchen entryway. The smile that was quick to appear lit up her eyes and Jacqueline smiled at the image of her mom. Her blonde hair, which now had gone mostly grey, was pulled back in a messy bun and her face, which was showing age, still looked young and vital.

The older woman sauntered out of the kitchen and engulfed her daughter in a bone-crushing hug. "Long day at work?"

"You have no idea, mom."

Kathleen gave her daughter another loving squeeze before releasing her hold. Out of habit, she held her daughter's face in her hands and caressed her cheeks with her thumbs. "Well, I'm glad you came by."

Music filtered out from a room upstairs, both their eyes followed up in the direction of the source. It was her father.

"How is he?"

Kathleen helped Jacqueline out of her jacket and fumbled with the article of clothing. "He has his good days and his bad days," she cleared her throat and looked up at Jacqueline. "Today wasn't really his best, but he managed."

Jacqueline didn't try to hide her disappointment. Even though this was always the answer her mother gave, it still was disheartening. It didn't seem like he was getting any better. "It's probably a little far reaching to think he'll get any better."

Kathleen only hummed at her words. Clearly, she didn't want to have this conversation. At least, not today. She sniffled and flashed another smile, "Are you hungry? I was just putting away some leftovers."

Following in suit, Jacqueline smiled and nodded at her mother's question, "I'm starving."

"I'll go and make you a plate then."

"Okay, um," Jacqueline pursed her lips together and looked towards the stairs, "I'm gonna go and see dad."

Kathleen disappeared into the kitchen as Jacqueline slowly ascended the staircase. Reaching the top, she turned down the hallway and walked towards her parent's bedroom, where the music was coming from. The closer she got, the clearer it became and she recognized what her father was listening to. It was the Sam Cooke album that she was all too familiar with.

She pushed the door, which was slightly ajar, all the way open. Her father was sitting in his favorite leather lounge chair. A huge photo album was resting in his lap and the music was now filtering out into the hallway. Stepping in, she waited until she was a little closer before saying anything. "Dad?"

John's attention was jolted from the album and found its way on her. Again, seeing the way her father smiled when he saw her made her resort back to feeling like a kid again. "Jackie," he raised his hand out and grasped hold of hers. "Visiting from the academy again? How is it?"

Jacqueline's lips stretched into a thin smile. With his hand still in hers, she maneuvered herself until she was sitting in the chair across from him. "I'm not at the academy anymore, Dad. I'm working at SHIELD now, remember?"

John's face froze as the information began to re-familiarize itself in his mind. Finally, he gave a small laugh, "Of course."

Alzheimer's. Jacqueline never thought that either of her parents would be given this diagnosis. She had been somewhat familiar with the disease. After Sharon told her that Peggy had been diagnosed, it was through her that Jacqueline learned a fair amount about the disease. When she was told that her father had it, the news was like a punch in the stomach. She learned everything she needed and yet, it still didn't prepare her for what was to come.

Looking over at the nightstand, a few prescription bottles were present, one was empty while the other must have been brand new. Even the medication couldn't effectively help him. This disease was harsh and unforgiving.

"You remember when we went on this trip," John pointed at one of the photos that were of him and Jacqueline fishing at a lake. "It was at Cayuga Lake."

Jacqueline glanced down at the photo, a sad frown etched in her features. "It was actually at Oneida."

"Oh, right." Such a simple statement with so much behind it. Failure to remember even the simplest memory always made his stomach drop.

As the record player switched to the next song, Jacqueline took note of the change and decided to drive the conversation elsewhere, "You're listening to Sam Cooke again."

John hummed at his own approval of the musician. "You can't go wrong with a Sam Cooke album."

She couldn't argue with that. This album was one she remembers listening to constantly growing up. And it held a lot of sentiment to it. John always told her the story of how he danced to one of Cooke's song during his first date with Kathleen. Unfortunately, John's memories of that night have slowly slipped away from him. It was like that with almost everything. He would only get quick flashes of those memories when someone brought it up. Even then, he couldn't relish in them for long.

"How do you feel, Dad?"

"Me?" He closed the photo album, keeping it in his lap. "I'm fine."

Jacqueline tilted her head to the side, "Mom told me that you didn't really have a good day today."

"Good days are rare, Jackie." He tenderly patted her hand, which was still enclosed around his. "I'm fine. I promise."

She cringed, faintly. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Dad."

"Have I ever let you down on a promise?"

"This is completely different." Jacqueline tightened her grip on his hand, almost like she was afraid of letting go. "I just don't want to lose you."

"Who said that I was going anywhere?"

He was trying to keep the mood light; John was known for that. He didn't like seeing people wallowing in sadness. But right now, Jacqueline didn't know if she was appreciating his attempt. She was being serious and sometimes felt that her father didn't know how to shut down that part of him. Back then, while working as an agent for SHIELD along with her mother, he was always known for retaining an almost boisterous side.

"Dad, I'm serious,"

"Jackie." John gave her a stern glance and held her hand between both of his. "I'm not going anywhere."

…

John had grown tired, something that came really easily to him nowadays, and Jacqueline helped him to bed. The physical condition of her father hasn't necessarily diminished as much, but Jacqueline still thought of him as being frail. And she knows how much that must frustrate him, but she couldn't help it. Her mother was in the same boat as her, they were just worried about him. They wanted to do whatever they can to make him feel comfortable. To make him feel better, especially since there is no way for them to cure it. She wanted it gone, the disease. She wanted it to disappear and she wanted her dad back. She wanted him back so badly.

When Jacqueline walked into the kitchen, a plate of lasagna was already set up for her, with a side of garlic bread. The smell of the food infused a sense of warmth to stream throughout her body. There are so many things that are attributed to her childhood: food being the biggest thing. Her mother had made some amazing dishes while she was growing up. It was hard for Jacqueline to pick her favorite dish, although, the lasagna was always up there.

Kathleen was finishing up with cleaning the kitchen when she saw Jacqueline enter. "Your plate is ready."

There was no time to waste. Jacqueline was starving and after the day she's had, a nice meal will do wonders for her. She took a seat at the table and took in a huge bite, the taste never changes. One of the perks to her mother's dishes, she never changes the recipe.

"You know, I have tried my hand at making your lasagna," Jacqueline shook her head. "It never comes out as good as yours."

"Do you follow the recipe that I gave you?"

"Of course I do," she portioned out another bite. "I'm just not as gifted as you when it comes to cooking."

"Oh, that's not true," Kathleen poured out two glasses of wine and joined her daughter at the table. "You make a really good mac and cheese."

Jacqueline gave her mother a look, chewing vigorously, "That's probably the easiest dish anyone can make."

"Oh, come on, Jackie you don't give yourself enough credit." She offered one of the glasses to her. "You've made some amazing dishes."

Jacqueline hummed and swallowed the food that was in her mouth. "Still, I prefer your cooking over mine."

"I'm not so sure you've been doing a lot of cooking lately," Kathleen narrowed her eyes at Jacqueline. "Work seems to be beating you down recently."

"It's a lot of things and it's also not just work." The look Jacqueline gave her mother hinted at the subject of her father.

"Jackie, I don't want to get into this."

"We have to." Dropping her fork, she leaned closer to her mother, "Dad's memory is slowly getting worse. We can't just keep him here; he's going to need real professional help. Around the clock help."

"You want to put him in a home?"

No, Jacqueline didn't want to send her father away to a home. But, that is what he needed, they need to take into consideration what would be best for him. Keeping him at home was their initial decision and it has been a few years since the diagnosis. His decline was slow, but obvious to her and it should be obvious to her mother. "I don't want to, but what if it gets out of hand? I don't want to wait until the very last minute. We need to think about what is best for him. "

"Being at home is good for him." Jacqueline sighed, but Kathleen continued. "Right now, being here is what's best for him."

"Okay, fine." Jacqueline interrupted. "Whatever you say."

The two women went silent. Kathleen busied herself with drinking her wine, while Jacqueline picked away at the food on her plate. switching occasionally to taking drinks of her glass. Arguing with her mother was pointless. They both were stubborn in their own right and from experience, Kathleen always seems to win her arguments. She could go on for an extended amount of time, which taught John and Jacqueline to relent their side. Only a few times did Jacqueline not back down from an argument. That usually never turned out well.

"How was work?" Her mother finally broke the painful silence.

Jacqueline shrugged and took another bite, "It's fine."

"I heard that someone escaped from headquarters," Jacqueline looked over at her mother, the latter had an eyebrow perched up. "It was Steve Rogers."

"Yeah," she wiped her mouth with the napkin and leaned back in her chair. "I'm going to be gone for about a week or so. I'm leaving town for a job."

 _For Steve Rogers,_ her mother thought. "Did you get to talk with him?" Jacqueline gave a quick nod. "What did you think?"

"It was strange. I grew up hearing stories about him, he was nothing but a myth to me. And then he's just there, awake and fully breathing. I don't know, it was just really strange."

"Well, I can't imagine what it must be like for him. Waking up to everything around him being completely different."

 _We are both in the same boat._ The meeting with Steve came to the forefront of her mind and that swell of sympathy came back. She couldn't stop thinking about him, sitting in his temporary room at headquarters... alone. Not knowing what exactly was going to happen to him next. How was he going to function in this society? Would he be able to adjust to the difference? That's what she was for, right? Fury wanted Jacqueline to not only keep an eye on Steve but to help him. She couldn't deny that last part. All that she had told Steve was true, they were going to do anything they could to help him, even if it meant just her.

“Still, I would like to meet him someday.” Her mother’s offhanded statement made her daughter pause. Upon seeing the look on her face, Kathleen continued. “He did save your grandfather’s life. If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be here and neither would you.”

“Guess we both owe him for that, huh?”

It was an all too familiar story. One that had been told to her by both Kathleen and Peggy. Back in WWII, Jacqueline’s grandmother Addie enlisted in the United States Army and was soon working for the S.S.R. It was there that she met Peggy and Steve Rogers, before he became Captain America. The story goes that her grandfather was captured by the Germans and held at a facility with other POW’s. Steve snuck behind the enemy lines with Peggy, Howard, and Addie’s help and freed all the prisoners. So, perhaps her mother was right. If Steve hadn’t done that, they probably wouldn’t be here today.

"Did you keep those history documentaries?" Jacqueline quipped after they had been sitting in silence.

Kathleen smiled and gave a curious look, "Yes, do you need them for something?"

"I've got some history lessons to give to someone."

* * *

Jacqueline didn't get back to her apartment until late at night. She was exhausted, but she didn't go to bed right away. In fact, Jacqueline sat down on her couch and did nothing. Her impending trip out to Vancouver with Rogers was still on her mind. There was a large bag near the front door that had the documentaries, movies, TV shows, and a shit ton of music C.D.s. Seventy years Steve had been asleep; history wasn't the only thing that he missed out on. It was movies and most importantly, music. If she was going to give him history lessons, at least she could through in some knowledge about pop culture.

Staring at the bag, she was debating. Go to sleep and do all of this tomorrow, or just do it now. She had decided to burn popular songs onto blank C.D.'s and play them for Steve. A progression of how music changed through the decades. Although, Jacqueline couldn't help but smile at what his reaction might be once he got to the 90's and current music, how big of a change there was. It was probably going to be like a culture shock for him.

Standing up from the couch, she picked up the bag and sat down at her computer. She may be exhausted, but if she didn't start this now, sleep wasn't going to come. She had two days at least to try and get this done. All-nighters will need to be done in order to complete this task.

_Hope you're ready for a long history lesson, Rogers._


	3. Safe House Getaway

_ Stay awake. Oh, and never pull another all-nighter. Never again. _

Jacqueline groaned at the constant babbling her thoughts were running through. Really, though. Waking up this morning, she swore to never stay up all night, for any reason. However, given the kind of job she currently has, that promise won't be kept for very long. Standing in the main lobby, it was more quiet than usual. Only a few people were out, walking to different locations. Everyone else was in briefings. Honestly, the silence was lulling her more into falling asleep.

Impending footsteps and a voice calling out her name startled Jacqueline. She jumped and Alex was right in front of her with the cup of coffee she had asked him to fetch for her. "Here's your emergency coffee."

She quickly took the cup and breathed out a thank you, before taking careful sips. "It's hot." She retracted her lips from the cup, cringing at the faint pain on her lips.

Alex gave an amused scoff, "Of course it's hot, who wants to drink cold coffee?"

Jacqueline shot him a glare, before taking another drink.  _ I don't need your sarcasm right now. _ She didn't need to say it. Alex was perfectly capable of reading what she was thinking, especially if she was annoyed with him.

He took a moment to assess Jacqueline and his lips cinched to the side. "You know, not to offend or anything, but you look like absolute hell."

"God," Jacqueline pulled the cup away and narrowed her eyes at him. "Alex, you know sometimes there are things you just shouldn't say."

"When it comes to the truth, I just let it all out."

She quirked her eyebrow up in response, "You might need to work on that."

He let out a low chuckle. "Seriously, you look like you haven't slept in days."

"That's because I haven't," she brought the cup up to her mouth, pausing momentarily to say, "well, at least not that much."

"Oh?" Alex raised his eyebrows, curiously. "What have you been doing?"

"I've been brushing up on my knowledge of American history," she fumbled with the lid for a moment, "and I've been collecting music as well."

"That seems like an odd reason to pull an all-nighter."

"I'm going up to Vancouver with Rogers."

"Oh."

This wasn't a subject she had discussed with him yet. For one, she had been prepping for the trip, no time to chat. And two, she was sure that he would hear it from someone else. Clearly, that hasn't happened yet, which surprised her. Word always got around fast here. It could also be in part to Alex not surrounding himself with gossip. He'd rather stay in a room on his own than listen to people talk on and on about something.

"So, why were you picking out music?"

"American history can be tedious to learn," she answered, nonchalantly. "Plus, music is a big part of our country's culture—movies as well. I'm trying to add a little fun to this. God knows he could use it."

"Seventy years of music, movies, and TV shows, how the hell did you narrow all of this down to a cohesive list?"

She rolled her eyes, emitting how exhausting the process was for her. "Honestly, I don't even know how I managed to do it—but I did. I feel like I deserve a damn medal."

"If I had one, I'd give it to you."

Jacqueline smiled at Alex going along with her little line. At least he knew how to always make her smile. Alex was an interesting guy, she had to admit. Some people described him as being a smart ass. And he could be that way, depending on who he was talking to. If he didn't like the person, he would annoy them with that persona. And while his sarcasm can get annoying at times, Jacqueline couldn't imagine working at SHIELD without him.

"Are you ready to spend some quality time with Rogers?"

"You're making it sound creepy," she admitted, quietly. "I already don't think it's a good idea, but what can I say? I feel bad for him; I want to help him. Plus, I can't really tell Fury no."

"Fair enough." Alex turned in time to see Steve walking out into the main lobby with a small entourage behind him. "Speaking of Rogers,"

Alex moved to stand next to her, both of them watching silently as Steve made his way over to them. Jacqueline noticed that Steve looked more alert. The way someone looked like after they slept an adequate amount of time. However, she had no idea whether Steve actually slept through the entire night. But, when he got closer she noticed how blank his face looked, except for his eyes. Heavy and void. He seemed so much older than what his physical being was showcasing.

"Captain Rogers." She greeted once he was standing in front of her.

"Agent Lewis."

Jacqueline offered him a smile, hoping that it would lighten his mood. The corner of his lips curled in a very brief smile. It wasn't much. She was going to take whatever she could get from him. The two had only stared at each other, causing Alex to lean sideways until he was in view of Steve's sight.

"Captain Rogers," Alex stuck his hand out, which Steve took in his own, "Agent Devane, we haven't had the opportunity to meet yet."

"Nice meeting you, Agent."

"It must be pretty strange, right?" Alex gestured around them, "with how different everything is."

"It certainly is different." Steve offered with a single nod.

Jacqueline side-eyed Alex and then nudged him in the side. Understanding the memo, Alex cleared his throat, "Well, I'll leave you two at it then. Again, an honor to meet you, Captain Rogers."

As he turned to leave, Alex glanced back at Jacqueline, who raised her coffee up at him, silently thanking him once again for retrieving the drink for her. When her attention was back on Steve, the look in his eyes was something she was unprepared for. Absent and dazed, but with hints of readiness. His shoulders were fixed back, hands cupped together in front of him. She recognized that stance. It was the way soldiers would stand, the at ease stance that everyone was familiar with. He was waiting for her to inform him of what was happening. Of course, he had no idea. It wasn't something he would admit, but he needed someone to point him in the right direction. He didn't know what to do.

"I'm sorry for all of that." Jacqueline apologized on Alex's behalf.

"It's fine. He was the first person I met who doesn't seem fazed by all of this."

"That's Devane for you." She supported Steve's claim rather easily. Nothing ever really seemed to bother him. "Captain Rogers, did Fury give you any details as to what is going to happen?"

Steve shook his head. "Only that I would be advised by you."

"Very well." She took a glance around, then motioned for Steve to follow. "I think it would be best if we start heading out now. You're probably tired of being here."

Steve didn't answer, he only followed Jacqueline. She took them towards the back of the building where a car was waiting for them. From there, they would be taken to a private runway and take a flight out to Vancouver. It was going to be a simple trip that would only take a few hours, no more.

When they arrived at the vehicle, Jacqueline opened the car door and motioned for Steve to enter. Only to have him insist that she go in first. Ah, the old saying. Ladies first. I'll indulge him. She went to step in when a wave of nausea washed over her, causing her to stumble back. Not getting enough sleep was starting to take its effect. And the coffee wasn't going to do that much for her.

It took her a moment, but she finally felt it. A hand pressed up against her back. She must have almost fallen on Steve. "Are you okay?" His voice was laced with genuine concern.

The question only made her feel embarrassed and she felt her cheeks grow warm. She almost fell against Steve Rogers; she can't imagine how much worse it would have been if she had collapsed from exhaustion. "I'm alright."

"Are you sure?"

Jacqueline drank what was left of her coffee and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." One of the security personnel took Jacqueline's empty cup. She offered her thanks before stepping into the car, this time fully succeeding in the endeavor. Once they were settled in, the driver took off.

"Okay, I am taking you up to a safe house in Vancouver. SHIELD has placed several safe houses in various locations. That way agents, or people like you, can seek refuge if they need it."

"Why a safe house?"

"It's just until we can set up another residence for you. Fury thought it might help if you got away from the city."

"So, I'm going to be dropped off at this house and then, left alone?" The faint quizzical look on Steve's face only confused her. Would he rather be alone? Considering that he's been asleep for seventy years, not able to interact with anyone, having company would be nice. But, she couldn't read his mind.

"No," she shook her head, this was going to be a little awkward. "I'm going to be staying up there with you. There is another place I'll be at, it's not that far from where you'll be." He was going to question why she was staying up there but she continued. "You mentioned to Fury about what happened while you were sleeping. That's what I'm here for."

"You're going to be giving me some history lessons."

She shrugged. "Like I said, we're going to help you in any way that we can. If that requires me to drag you through tedious history lessons, then so be it."

They remained silent for the rest of the car ride and the plane ride. Several times throughout Jacqueline thought about sparking up a conversation, but she didn't want to annoy him. Steve seemed comfortable sitting in his own thoughts, she didn't want to interrupt that. Instead, she occupied herself with studying him, which sounded a little creepy when she thought about it. One thing that was so relevant was how calm he was. That confused her. If Jacqueline were in Steve's position, being calm would be like a foreign sensation for her. But this was a man who fought in several skirmishes during WWII. She's only been on minor missions, nothing compared to what he has witnessed. He's a soldier, a fighter. Natasha had always advised Jacqueline to uphold a sense of calm during high-intensity situations. While this moment isn't a fight, it was more of a metaphorical battle. It was Steve against the 21st century. Remaining calm is his way of familiarizing himself with the reality of it all.

She couldn't help but admire that. Despite all of the training she received, all that she had learned, Jacqueline was well aware of what she was capable of handling. If she were to fall into a coma-like sleep for seventy years and wake up in the future, forget calm. She would probably lose her mind. Although, Jacqueline had to take a step back to really analyze this further. Outwardly, Steve was calm and reserved. Internally, he was probably falling apart. Nearly every single person he cared about are dead. The very thought alone made her stomach churn.

Something like that would undoubtedly cause a person to suffer from depression. Her back straightened when that came to thought and she eyed him warily. Maybe Steve should talk with someone, only if the situation called for it. I should still talk with Fury about that. Jacqueline could step into that position, but she wasn't a professional with any of that. Steve would need someone who knew what they were doing. Still, they were going to be spending at least a week together. Establishing a form of trust was crucial. Through that bond she would be able to show Steve that he wasn't alone. He may feel like it, but he's not.

By mid-afternoon, the plane touched down in Vancouver. Several times during the flight, Jacqueline had slipped into sleep. They were more like micro-naps. She was hoping that Steve didn't notice; he did. However, he said nothing about it. A black SUV was waiting for them on the runway. As they were stepping off, the few bags that they had brought with them were loaded into the back of the car. Steve took particular interest in a huge duffle bag that was being handled. It only managed to catch his attention for a brief second, then it was over.

The route to the safe house was relatively simple. A short drive through the city and the rest was open land. Jacqueline had only been out to Vancouver a handful of times and always looked forward to the scenery of it all. Fury made it clear that this wasn't a vacation. However, any time that Jacqueline is able to get away from the city, she considers it a vacation.

The drive was soon over. Luscious woods were what greeted them, with a small pond and the safe house, which looked rather normal. Of course, it had to look normal in an effort to not be conspicuous. But this place was out in the middle of nowhere. There was no way someone would just stumble upon it. When they got out of the car, Jacqueline took out her duffle bag while Steve took out his own, which was a rather small bag. Made sense, he had little to no personal possessions, but it did contain items that SHIELD had given to him. After advising one of the personnel to take the rest of her belongings to her location, she led the way towards the front door.

"It looks so, normal."

Jacqueline chuckled at Steve's remark and took a quick glance at the structure. "It kind of has to be, you know being a safe house and everything. Although, given its location, it probably didn't really matter how it looked."

After unlocking the door, Jacqueline pushed it open and motioned for Steve to walk in first. She made sure that Steve was the one to go in first. She had already humored him with the whole car thing, not that she had a problem with it. She placed her bag down on the table once inside. The place still looked the same. The last time she had been here was a few years ago. Jacqueline was always taken back by how warm the safe house looked. There was always a sense of comfort that surrounded her when she was here.

Steve had taken in the location, familiarizing himself with the surroundings. He was going to be staying here for a while. Might as well try and get used to it. Jacqueline watched him quietly, allowing him time to adjust to it. He had turned back around and seeing that she was looking at him, Steve gave her a questioning look. "What's wrong?"

Jacqueline, noticing that she had been staring, broke her gaze quickly and shook her head. "Sorry. Nothing. How do you like it?"

"It's fine." He looked around him, "not that I really have that much of a choice."

She nodded at his words, "Trust me, I think this safe house is much better than any apartment in the city."

"Why is that?"

Jacqueline shrugged, not knowing why she had said that. "I mean it's just personal preference. I'm more of a seclude myself in a peaceful place kind of girl. I don't really like living in the city, but I have to because of my job."

Steve nodded. His eyes landed on the duffel bag and nodded at it. "What is in the bag?"

Jacqueline pursed her lips into a thin smile and unzipped the bag. "This contains everything I'm gonna need to teach you. You know, help you catch up with everything you missed."

It was rather thoughtful. However, Steve didn't know how she was going to cover seventy years in just a week. "How exactly are you planning on doing that?"

She reached into the bag and pulled out a box of dvds. "With these," she set them down on the table. "It's a historical documentary series that my father owns, I borrowed it for the time being."

Steve stared at the box set, "This is going to get that job done?"

"Of course it will," she assured and then pulled out her phone. "If there is something we missed, we can always check the internet."

"Internet?"

Jacqueline paused and after thinking about it pressed her lips into a thin line.  _ You are such an idiot, Jackie. _ Steve doesn't know what the internet is. "Right. Okay, the internet is basically a series networks that we use to look up information on. We can watch videos, send information, do pretty much anything with it. If you need something answered, the internet will be your best friend."

The only answer Steve gave was a nod because he was too wrapped up in his mind trying to comprehend what the internet was. Her explanation was very simplified. If she were to go into extreme detail, they would be talking about it for quite some time. Shaking his head, his eyes settled on the object in her hand. "What is that?"

"It's a cell phone. You can charge it, carry it around with you. They were first created back in the 70's and then around the 2000's, smartphones were developed." Jacqueline turned on her phone, revealing the lock screen and swiped to the right, bringing up the home page with various icons. Steve was so enamored by it; she couldn't help but smile. She made a quick run through with what applications were and showing him the basic ones, like the call and messaging app. Just enough to give him an idea of how it operates.

"You want to test it out?" She gave him an encouraging look, inching the phone closer to him.

He eyed the phone, obviously hesitant and slowly shook his head. "No, that's fine."

She placed the phone down on the table, making sure to turn off the screen. "I'm fairly certain they will be issuing you your own phone pretty soon. So, I'll help you get acquainted with the thing."

"Sounds good to me."

Jacqueline smiled and focused her attention on her bag. She began to pull out other DVD's, movies that she picked out. Classics. At least, they were classics to her and her father. That was also a rather difficult task. Choosing what movies to show him while they were here. With only a week at their disposal, they weren't going to get through every single film. She had to be selective.

The last thing that Jacqueline pulled out were a few hardcover books, which Steve seemed to gravitate towards, immediately. A few of them had the name Stephen King on the front cover, of course, he had no idea who that was. But, given with how many of his books she brought, he must be pretty well known and a good writer too. He inched closer, narrowing down on one in particular and read the title, "From Here to Eternity." Picking up the book, he examined the binding and the cover, "You like to read."

"I love to read, that's all thanks to my father. He made it a habit to read something every night before I went to bed. As I got older, he recommended books to me and I would just devour them."

"What is it about?"

Jacqueline couldn't shake away the irony of this particular moment. The plot of the book and who had asked her the question. "It's about members of the Army Infantry who were stationed in Pearl Harbor. And it takes place a few months before the attack from the Japanese."

Steve breathed out a quiet laugh, "Isn't that a little ironic?" He opened the book and skimmed through the pages until he stopped on a page that was bookmarked. And he couldn't help but noticed that she was well half way through the book. "How long ago did you start reading this?"

Jacqueline only had to think for a brief moment. "I read all of that in about two days."

Steve raised his brow and gazed at her. "Two days?" She nodded. "So, I'm guessing you're a fast reader."

"I only read when I have time to relax and when I do, I don't stop. Especially if it's a book that I really like."

"Then you answered my next question."

She quietly chuckled and then thought of something. "Well, I'll finish this book within the next day or so. When I get done, you can read it if you want."

"Thank you." He didn't think on her offer. The response was instantaneous. Really, there was no reason for him to take time considering it. He was rather interested in this book, for some reason. "What's all of that?" He pointed at the other plastic cases that were spilling out from the duffle bag.

"Now, learning just history can get quite boring. So, I thought maybe I should try and put a little 'fun' in this. These are movies, TV shows and a whole CD set of music that you missed out on. Films and music have come a long way; they are just as important to our country's culture as our history is. Also, I was given these a few years ago, but I never used them." Jacqueline reached into the bag and pulled out two decent sized sketchbooks and handed them over to Steve, who took time to examine them with a good amount of admiration in his eyes.

He had always loved to draw and he would draw on any form of paper he could get his hands on. It was not only his way of being expressive but to also just pass the time. Drawing was often his way of escaping the harsh realities of growing up, mostly with how ill he was.

"When I was younger," she hesitated, "Peggy told me that you always loved to draw." At the mere mention of her name, Steve's gaze was instantly on her.

"You knew Peggy?"

"Yeah. Both of my parents are former SHIELD agents. I was around her constantly." Maybe now it was time to tell him, keeping it from him no longer really seemed logical. "Captain Rogers, Peggy is still alive."

For the first time, Steve's features lit up, eyes cleared and mouth parted as if he was trying to form words but nothing was coming out. "How is she?" Steve finally managed to ask.

_ Oh boy. _ "She's fine. All things considered." The look of confusion that crossed his face urged her to continue, there was no use in stopping now. "Peggy got diagnosed with Alzheimer's a few years ago." Jacqueline paused, the image of her father flooded her mind. "She currently lives in Washington D.C., getting the care that she needs."

"Was she happy? I mean, after…" Steve's voice trailed off, hoping that Jacqueline would understand what he was asking. She did.

"Yes. She actually got married and had children." This was uncomfortable. Jacqueline knew that Peggy loved Steve, there was no denying it. And it was also relatively easy to spot, especially since Jacqueline was around her constantly growing up. Whenever Peggy spoke about Steve, she saw it, how much emotion and care went into how she talked about him. Even after she got married, it was still evident that Peggy held him close to her. "She had a really happy life and she still is happy, despite everything."

Jacqueline chewed on her bottom lip, thinking that it was a rather bad idea to tell him all of this about Peggy. Perhaps waiting a few more days would have been more sufficient. Too late now. Once again, Steve looked lost—his shoulders slumped in posture and his gaze lowered until he was staring at the book. He was glad—glad that Peggy moved on, that she found someone to share a life with…someone she had a family with. He was happy. But, he couldn't shake the feeling of how unfair it all was to him. Not only Peggy but everyone he knew, they were able to live out their lives, while he was literally frozen. Stuck, unable to move forward with them. It was so unfair.

"I'm glad." He had been silent for so long that when he finally spoke, it made Jacqueline jump. "She was able to move on. That's good."

Smiling sadly, she continued, "She never forgot about you. She would always tell me little things about you. Always focus on the man, that was her advice for me. She made sure that your memory was never forgotten." Did she really mean to say that? Part of her was saying yes, she did mean to. The other was scolding her for not just keeping that to herself.

"Can I see her?" He asked, his voice was slow and quiet, making him sound so young. Much younger than he looked, it caught her off guard. When he looked at her, his eyes were gentle and unwavering. How can this be the same man?

"Of course you can." She replied without hesitation. "I'll just need to talk with a few people. But, you are more than welcome to see her."

He responded well to her answer, his features softened and he allowed the smallest smile to slip through. It was infectious, she found herself smiling as well. She was actually very relieved that telling him this didn't have the opposite effect.

"Captain Rogers, I will say that I think right now, the focus should just be on you. And making sure that you're well adjusted."

Steve didn't seem to disagree, he only nodded in response. "But, there is something that I think we should clear up."

Her back straightened.  _ Oh god. _

He set down the book and glanced up at her, "We aren't at headquarters anymore. You don't have to keep on addressing me as Captain Rogers. You can just call me Steve."

To say she was relieved was an understatement. It seemed like he was going to go into something much more important. She nodded in her compliance and relief, "Well since we are going by first name basis, you can call me Jackie or Jacqueline, either is fine."

Steve silently repeated her name, only he didn't use her nickname, he used her full name. At first, she thought that it was a misinterpretation on her part. It wasn't until he spoke she realized that she had read his lips correctly.

"Alright, Jacqueline. What's the plan?"

She couldn't help but smile at hearing someone use her full name. Granted, at her job, some people used her full name, but it was a rarity. Her parents never call her Jacqueline unless she was in trouble, everyone calls her Jackie. And here was Steve, using her full name. It didn't bother her; it was just strange hearing someone use it.

"Well, if you want, you can start watching the first DVD from this," she tapped the box collection, "and I could probably make you something to eat."

"You don't have to do that."

She shrugged. "I really don't mind. Headquarters doesn't always have the best food and I can only imagine it's been a while since you've had a really good meal."

He smiled again, emitting a small laugh to follow it. "And I promise," she continued, "my food is edible, my mom always vouches for it."

Steve thought about the offer, very tempted to try and convince her that she didn't need to. However, when his stomach rumbled that seemed to finalize the decision for both of them. Jacqueline raised a brow at him, waiting for him to verbally agree to her offer.

After a beat, Steve nodded, "Thank you."

The plan that Jacqueline quickly made up didn't exactly go the way she wanted it to. Correction, the cooking part went accordingly, watching the documentary didn't go as planned. As Jacqueline was gathering everything she needed to make her mom's lasagna, they both found themselves carrying on small conversations. One after the other, they didn't really know how to stop. One of the things that Steve made sure to point out was how he knew virtually nothing about her. Just that her parents were former agents and she was close with Peggy. Jacqueline had decided that they should save the documentary until after the food was done, and while she agreed to tell Steve things about herself, he offered his help with the cooking.

This was something she didn't expect. Cooking with Steve Rogers, how riveting that was for her. She didn't go into painstaking details about her life, just mundane ones. She was an only child, born in Massachusetts and moved to New York when she was five. Attended the academy and eventually started working for SHIELD. But, she spent a good amount of time talking about her parents, about how much they meant to her.

"It was just the three of us, so we had a lot of time to spend together."

From her duffle bag, Jacqueline pulled a few family photos. Steve scanned over the one of her parents. While looking at the photo, Steve noticed how Jacqueline looked more like her mother, but he could see hints of her father as well. Turning the picture over, the date 1978 was scrawled on the back. Steve was immediately taken back with memories of his mother. How it was just the two of them and with how sickly he was growing up, his mother hovered over him. God, he missed her. There was a lot that he missed.

Another photo on the table caught his eye. When he glanced down, a familiar face was staring back at him. He quickly picked up the photo, the name slipped right past his lips. “Addie.” 

Jacqueline, who was washing her hands at the sink, craned her neck to look back at Steve. She turned off the faucet and dried her hands with the kitchen towel. 

Steve finally looked up, turning the photo over to show her. “How do you know Addie?” 

_ Oh,  _ this was bound to happen. Jacqueline had planned on bringing up the subject of Addie but wasn’t sure when to. Jacqueline slowly approached him, her eyes scanned the photo quickly. “She’s, uh, she’s my grandmother.” She winced at the look on Steve’s face, complete shock. “Your world just keeps getting smaller, doesn’t it?” 

All he could do was  _ look  _ at her. His eyes were glazed over as he took in her features. She was definitely a perfect blend of her parents. But he could pick up the subtle similarities to Addie; her nose and chin. He felt  _ odd.  _ The last memory he had of Addie was hearing her voice through the Valkyrie's comms. 

_ You saved Joe’s life. Now let me help you, please Steve.  _

Their goodbye was quick and hasty. One wouldn’t even consider it a proper farewell. For him, that happened only days ago. But no. It has been nearly seventy years since she said those words to him. And now her granddaughter, of all people, is helping him adjust to living in the 21st century. This couldn’t just be a coincidence, could it?

Steve turned the photo back over, focusing on the image before him. “Is she, uh, is she okay?” 

_ Oh boy.  _ Jacqueline bit on her lip, thinking of the easiest way to break the news to him. There wasn’t going to be one. “She...she actually passed away a bit back. Actually, it was a few months before I was born.” 

He went quiet, as if he was holding his breath. Addie was dead. He had worked himself up to a false sense of hope. After waking up, he was convinced that Peggy was gone as well. But she wasn’t. The minute he saw Addie’s photo he thought the exact same thing. “I’m sorry.” He finally managed to say something.

“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.” 

When he said nothing else, Jacqueline resumed with the cooking. The silence from him was unnerving. When she looked back at him, he was in a daze, only in the company of his memories, not paying attention to anything else. And he was just staring at the picture of Addie, it worried her. She decided to switch the mood. Taking out the CD's that she made, Jacqueline played them on a small radio. Making sure to explain to Steve what exactly these were. A playlist that she put together of popular music, starting from 1946 and all the way up until early 2000's. She thought it would be easy for him to listen to the progression of music, and this was the most tedious thing she had ever done. No one will ever understand how difficult it was to create this thing, especially since there were many different songs to choose from. She decided to just choose the ones that were the most popular. It made the process so much easier.

With the music playing, they were able to comfortably descend into a routine. Between cooking the ingredients and layering them, Jacqueline was surprised at how comfortable she was around him. It no longer felt like she was cooking with Captain America, rather, it felt like she was spending time with an old friend. Jacqueline knew that it had nothing to do with her, it was all Steve. He was just so normal.

During the time that the food was cooking, Steve spilled out information about himself. Nothing too personal or intimate. Just like Jacqueline, it was all mundane. He talked a little bit about his mother, Sarah and how he met his best friend, Bucky. There was a lot he was leaving out, just mentioning their names, particularly Bucky's, would make him hesitate. Made sense. From what she had gathered from looking at the files, Bucky had died during a mission a few weeks prior to Steve's crash. For Steve, that grief and anguish were still fresh, even though it's been nearly seventy years, to him it was only weeks. She didn't need to know anything about him. That would take place as the next week dragged on. The subject of Steve's past was sensitive and she made sure to assure him that he didn't need to say anything. His current situation was different.

When the food was finally done, Jacqueline was rather relieved about it. That means they could get on with the original plan; watching the documentary. After piling on servings for themselves, Jacqueline turned on the first DVD. As they watched, it reminded Jacqueline how much she really disliked watching documentaries, particularly the ones that have to do with history. She never really found much fascination or interest in American history. It was always the subject that she struggled with in school. It was just so boring to her. It was a stark contrast to her father, who loved history, who loved learning every little detail. Not her. She spent most of her time concentrating on eating the food on her plate, while Steve was engrossed with both watching and eating.

The first hour or so were covering things that Steve already knew; how the war started and a few events that happened. Everything else was all new to him; the Potsdam Conference, the establishment of the United Nations and the Nuremberg Trials. Steve tried to grasp the concept of everything he was learning through this program. However, one event did pause their viewing since it rattled Steve. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. During the entire section, Steve never paid attention to what was being said, only the images that were being broadcasted on the screen. Buildings that were decimated, bodies buried in the rubble, survivors that were trying to escape the chaos. He was present in this war, he fought battles and witnessed the carnage. But, not like this. The United States was responsible for this. He was disturbed. To the point that Jacqueline eventually paused the screen.

"Are you okay?"

"They dropped those bombs on Japan."

She paused, briefly and then nodded. "Yeah." When Steve didn't respond, she didn't know what to do or say. Honestly, she should have expected some kind of reaction like this. "It's disturbing, I know, not exactly one of our shining moments," she paused and scoffed. "Then again, we didn't really have a lot of good moments. A lot of the things we've done have been problematic and controversial."

"What do you think?" He asked.

She raised her brows, "About what?"

"About dropping the bombs. Do you think it was the right choice?"

He was really hitting down the nail. After placing her plate on the table, Jacqueline settled back and tucked her knees to her chest. She felt like she was in the middle of a group discussion in history class. She could just picture the teacher staring at her, waiting to see what kind of response she was going to give. "Personally and morally, it wasn't the right thing to do. But, Truman thought he was making the right choice. The plan to invade Japan had an estimation of casualties in the millions." She shrugged, "he probably thought that was the best decision in order to lower the number of casualties. I mean, no one can justify it, even now it's still debated as to whether he made the right choice."

Steve wrung his hands together, eyes focused on the paused screen. "And to think, we were supposed to be the good guys. And then we drop these bombs on two cities."

"You're gonna see a lot of that, Steve." Jacqueline continued. "You will see a lot of moments in which we were not at our best."

Could it be any worse than this? If it was possible, Steve couldn't fathom what that could be. This was already morally unjustified, what else has this country done since he's been gone? He will find out, soon enough. There were still several DVD's that needed to be watched, would he be able to stomach it? Most likely. He wanted to know everything, he wanted to see the progression of his country's social morale—or the depletion.

Jacqueline had offered to turn off the whole thing completely if Steve wasn't in the mood to continue. But, he declined. There wasn't that much for them to finish and he vouched to finishing it. They didn't have that much time and there was still a lot more for him to get through. So, they did. There was silence between them. Only the narrator's voice provided sound. Steve never asked any more questions. He remained still, eyes focused on the screen, taking in the information as it flashed across the monitor. Jacqueline's eyes flickered over to him, light from the TV washed over his face and his eyes, they looked almost glazed over. He was a wonder.

She blinked. Did she really just think that? Yes, she did. But, it was true. They were in a safe house, in the middle of nowhere. The first time they had met was in the confines of headquarters. Here everything was relaxed, Steve no longer had the tension built up on his shoulders. He was at ease. Again, this was a man she had only heard stories of. Being able to sit with him, talk to him, being able to cook food for him, it was almost mesmerizing. She really couldn't explain the feeling to herself. But, what she had thought previously was true. This was a wonder; he was a wonder.

...

It was late. The house was lit with only a few of the kitchen lights. The TV was off; the documentary had been finished. Jacqueline placed the two plates into the sink and turned to the island. The dish that had contained a whole lasagna, was almost gone, with only a corner of food left. Steve was really hungry. He had gotten up several times to cut himself more portions. She had no problem with it. At least it was good. She was afraid he wouldn't like it. Honestly, he could have absolutely hated the dish and just lied, saying that he liked it to make her feel better. But, that was just her own little paranoia working against her.

Taking out a container from the cabinet, Jacqueline scooped out the portion into the container and looked up when she saw Steve standing on the other side.

"You don't have to clean up."

"No, it's okay." She snapped on the lid and set it aside, "I don't mind. I'll just finish cleaning up here, then I'll head out to my place."

Steve nodded. "Sorry about eating practically all of it."

"You don't need to be sorry." She was bemused by his apology, so much so that she felt her lips spread with a smile. "I'm actually glad that you liked it."

"I did." His smile shot down any doubt she had about him not liking it. One thing she noticed early on, Steve was a little easy to read. "I enjoyed it a lot, thank you." He finished.

"You're very welcome." She took a quick glance over at the clock and tapped her finger against the counter, "It's pretty late. You might want to try and get some sleep."

Steve, who had been looking at Jacqueline's book, glanced up, making immediate eye contact. He held the look, for only a few seconds, before breaking the contact. "Yeah, probably. Are you sure you don't want me to help?" He gestured at the dirty dishes.

She dismissed his offer with a wave. "Don't worry about it, it's not that much. I'll handle this, you go get some rest."

He didn't move—he remained still, eyes still on hers with a gentle stare. This time, she couldn't make out what he was thinking. Okay, maybe he's not that easy to read. As a reflex, she merely smiled at him, which seemed to snap his reality back into place.

"Thank you," he was thanking her again, not that she could complain. "Thank you for everything you're doing."

"You're welcome."

With one final glance, Steve went to find a room to stay in but made sure to say one last thing. "Goodnight, Jacqueline."

A breath caught in her throat, the way he said her name, it sounded different coming from him. Swallowing a few times, she was finally able to regain her voice. "Goodnight, Steve."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, so, Steve knew Jacqueline's grandmother back during the war. I actually have a whole story that I'm writing. I already posted it over on ff.net and I may bring it over here. I guess I should, regardless. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!!


	4. A Much Needed Therapy Session

The air was chilly, burning her lungs and throat with every exhale. Her chest heaved and her legs had gone numb, only a hint of the pain remained in her calves and knees. She glanced over at the treeline, the sun was just starting to peek through the tops of the branches. It was about six in the morning, she had woken up about an hour earlier, deciding to go for a jog. Still, she questioned as to why she allows herself to do this. Jacqueline absolutely hated jogging, yet she tries doing it every morning after she wakes up. It was her way of just being with her thoughts, it allowed her to think about whatever comes to mind.

_ Is it really worth it though? _

That's the question she always asked herself when she's struggling for breath and her legs felt like they were on fire. Still, she always follows through with the routine. Then, professes to herself afterward that she's finished with it. Then the next morning comes around and she does it all over again.

"I always let myself down." She quietly scolded herself.

Standing near the edge of the lake, she remained still in order to catch her breath, allowing her body to cool down. She still had a few more hours. Steve's sleep schedule wasn't something she had knowledge of and she had no idea if he was actually sleeping through the night. But, just in case, she would give him a few more hours before sauntering over to the safe house.

Summoning enough willpower, Jacqueline walked back to her house, the muscles in her calves strained with each step. It felt like knots were forming. A hot shower should help with that. She unlocked the door and, upon stepping in, her phone on the kitchen table began to vibrate. Groaning, she used her foot to close the door behind her and walked over to the table. Picking up her phone, she saw the name on the screen. Tony.

She answered. "What's wrong?"

His voice came through, hinting at a little questioning in his tone,  _ "Why is it every time I call, you think something is wrong?" _

Jacqueline raised her brows and turned to the clock, reading the time, "Because it's only seven in the morning and you never call me this early unless something happened," she crossed her free arm over her chest. "So, what's wrong?"

_ "What I can't just call you to check up on how you're doing?" _

Not exactly. Tony would always call her about something that happened. Then at the end of that conversation, he would proceed with the whole 'how are you' side of the conversation. "Tony," she warned before continuing. "What is it?"

_ "Nothing." _

Not the answer she was wanting to receive. Before she could respond, the sound of a glass being set down on a surface made her pause for a second. "Are you drinking? At seven in the morning?"

Tony scoffed on the other end,  _ "Oh please, Jaq you could give me just a little bit of leniency. It's orange juice, thank you very much." _

She jumped the gun a little too soon. "Why are you calling me?" She steered the conversation back on the right track, actually curious about what he has to tell her.

_ "You know your mother called me again, in her endeavor to get me over for dinner." _

This is what he wanted to talk to her about? Either way, the brunette actually managed to crack a small smile. That was very typical of her mother. Tony was someone that Jacqueline's parents have known since he was a child. And with how close the two families have become over the years, Tony was the closest thing to a son her parents had. Dinner with Tony was a recurring event that took place in their home. Especially after Tony's parents died, those dinners became more frequent.

Pulling a cup out from the cupboard, Jacqueline poured herself a glass of water. "Well, you know how my mom is, she just wants to know how you're doing."

_ "Knowing your mother, if I agree to another one, she's going to give me a whole pan of lasagna to take home." _

"She just wants to make sure that you're well. And that you're also eating well." Jacqueline's smile widened when she heard Tony give a small laugh on the other end.

_ "By the way, how's your vacation with Captain America?" _

"It's not a vacation, Tony." She corrected him, though her tone gave away her annoyance at him calling it that. "And  how did you know I was going to be up here?"

_ "I have my ways of getting information." _

"Hacking into SHIELD is your way of getting information."

_ "I don't always have to hack into things." _

The statement made Jacqueline laugh. Whenever Tony wanted to know something that SHIELD was doing, hacking into their system was the way to do it. Plus, he was an expert at it. Tony was the kind of guy who could hack into anything. Not to mention he always brought up the fact that he successfully hacked into the Pentagon on a dare.

_ "Back onto why I called you, how is it? Being up there with the cap?" _

"First off, it's not a vacation, so get that out of your mind." Her voice was deadpanned. "Fury told me to come up here with him, so I did."

_ "You know, if you didn't wanted to, you could've bargained with Fury." _

Resting a hand on her hip, her mouth hung open for a few brief seconds as she tried to come up with a retort. "Who says that I didn't want to? I felt bad for him so I wanted to help him. In any way that I can." She heard Tony hum again on the other end and her eyes narrowed, "Why all of a sudden are you calling me about this? Last time I checked, none of this has anything to do with you."

_ "I'm asking because I'm a curious person, Jackie." _

"More like incredibly nosey." She recounted, but Tony went on, completely ignoring what she had murmured to herself.

_ "So, what's the cap like?" _

"Excuse me?"

_ "You know what I mean." _

"Tony, seriously, you called me at seven in the morning for this?" Honestly, she shouldn't be that surprised with this. Tony was known for calling her about things that were completely out of the blue. But, the fact that he was calling her about Steve, it was off-putting "I've only spent one full day with the guy, I don't even know him that well."

_ "You're staying with him up at the safe house. That means you are the only person at SHIELD who has a good sense of what he's like." _

"Why are you all of a sudden wanting to know about him?" She paused and raised a brow, "are you going to fanboy all over him?"

_ "That's Coulson's job, not mine." _

Of course, how could Jacqueline forget about Coulson? Possibly the only person at SHIELD who has a great admiration for Steve, as in he is a huge fan of him. A huge fan. Jacqueline was often subjected to witnessing Coulson's fanboyism, but she often found it enduring in some sense. Coulson was someone who no one could remain annoyed with.

_ "You could at least give me something to work with." _

"Why don't you just wait? You're gonna meet him at some point and you can figure it out for yourself."

_ "You know exactly why I'm asking this, Jaq." _

"Um, actually, no I really don't know why this is any of your business."

_ "I'm pointing a rhetorical finger at my father. Did you happen to forget what, or  _ who _ , he always talked about?" _

Jacqueline paused and rolled her eyes, not in annoyance, but in her own realization. "Steve."

_ "It was always about him. He wanted me to aspire to be like him. So, I just want to know if all the hype my father built up around him was worth it." _

The statement made Jacqueline cinch her lips to the side, she knew about this. Tony's relationship with his father was not all warm and kind. She was a constant guest at the house of Howard Stark and his family. So much so that Jacqueline often considered the location her second home. But that also meant she grew up around the harshness that was Tony and Howard's relationship. Of course, she was never exposed to the full brunt of it, but it was enough for her to obtain an understanding. Howard spoke about Steve constantly and it did annoy Tony. Being a witness to it, Jacqueline couldn't help but feel empathy for Tony.

But, what exactly could she give him? Everything she had told him was true; she hardly knew the guy. There wasn't much that she could say to get him to stop asking. "Like I said," she continued, "I hardly know him, I've only had one full day with the guy. But, from what I've seen he's well put together, kinda quiet, reserved. I mean it makes sense, he's been asleep for about seventy years and he's living in a time that makes no sense to him." Jacqueline paused and could hear Tony giving small hums, taking her words into considering. "Okay, you know what? I'm not going to do this, alright? Like I said, I don't even have that much."

_ "I'm pretty sure you'll gather more in the next few weeks." _

She could hear his voice slur towards the end. After assessing the slur for a few seconds, she came to a conclusion. It wasn't from drinking, it sounded more like exhaustion. "Okay," Jacqueline ran a hand through her ponytail. "Tony did you pull another all-nighter?"

At first, there were only sporadic hums coming from his end before he finally answered,  _ "Possibly." _

Of course, he did. There was really no point in her asking that question. "Go to bed. Pepper is probably going to kill you if she finds out you pulled another one."

_ "You really think so?" _

"Tony. Go to bed." She enunciated each word, making sure they all held the same amount of impact.

_ "You sounded like my mother just then." _

The statement made her huff out a breath. "Sometimes we need to be a mother to you. Go to bed, get some rest. And, don't call me if it's about Steve. Okay?"

_ "Mhm." _

"And just accept my mom's dinner offer. You know she won't stop bugging you until you say yes." With one last hum of compliance, Jacqueline rolled her eyes at the conversation they just had. "Bye, Tony." With that, she hung up the phone and placed it back down on the table.

Next thing on her mind was to take a shower. The sweat that had covered her body was starting to dry, leaving her with a strange feeling sitting on her skin. She wanted it off. After stepping out, the clock only read 7:45. There was still a good few hours before she was planning on heading over to Steve. Drying her hair with the towel, she debated on what she could do in her spare time. Staring at the night table near her bed she saw  _ From Here to Eternity _ , which marked a mental note for her.

_ Need to bring that to Steve. _ As she had stated to him the previous night, she would be finishing that book within the next day or so. She just finished it earlier than she had anticipated.

Standing in the room, she paused and pressed her tongue against her cheek. What to do? She could always start reading one of the extra books she brought with her. In fact, that's what her decision was. After making herself a cup of coffee, Jacqueline lounged herself in the sitting room and propped open a book,  _ The Shining _ , to be exact. She never had a real interest in reading Stephen King novels. It was her friend Gabby that ultimately convinced her to give the books a try.

Her phone, which was on the table next to her, began vibrating. Pausing her reading, she reached over and glanced at the screen, then answered. "Hi, mom."

_ "Hi, sweetie, why are you up so early? I was going to leave you a message." _ Her voice came through, audibly surprised at having her call answered.

Jacqueline pouted her lips and absentmindedly skimmed over the page, "Oh, you know, I thought that I would start the day a little early." God, that was such a lie.

Her mother sighed into the phone,  _ "How much sleep did you get, Jacqueline?" _

There she goes, using her full name. Of course, her mother would see right through it. Although to be fair, Jacqueline wasn't exactly being discrete. She glanced up at the ceiling and rested the back of her free hand against her forehead, "I'll admit, not that much."

_ "Did you try to get to bed at a decent hour last night?" _

"It was decent enough," she ran a hand through her still damp hair. "You know how it is, mom. It doesn't matter what time I try to sleep; I just can't fall asleep."

_ "I really wish you would see someone about it." _

"It's fine mom, I promise." She paused and then continued, "I should be back on my normal pattern within the next day or so." Her mother hummed her doubt, prompting Jacqueline to try and switch over the subject a little bit. "Why are you up so early?"

_ "Kind of a restless night," _ Kathleen answered, without much hesitation.  _ "Kept waking up, finally decided to just not go back to sleep." _

That was a little off-putting. "Has it been a rough few days with dad?" She asked, brows furrowed in concern.

_ "No, actually, the past few days have been rather good. We went for a few walks, haven't done that in a while." _

To say the news made her happy was an understatement. Good days were in rare supply for her father. Anytime that he was given a day where the illness took a backseat, called for any form of celebration. Usually, it would consist of the three of them taking long walks in her parents' neighborhood. "Let's just hope that it will remain like that for a while longer."

Kathleen didn't respond at first, but the mood changed.  _ "You know it never does." _

Jacqueline emitted a long exhale, not finding anything she could say to rebut her mother's statement. It only made the mood sink even more. But, Kathleen was able to pull it up from the depth.  _ "How is it in Vancouver?" _

"It's...alright."

It was such a simple answer. Kathleen thought that her daughter was going to go into more detail. She never did. So, she decided to push for more information.  _ "How is Steve?" _

Jacqueline maneuvered herself until she was sitting up and blew out a breath. "He's…fine. I don't know it's just really weird. I mean, how many people can say that they know a guy who spent seventy years frozen in the Arctic? Not many."

Kathleen let out a breathy laugh,  _ "It's weird when you put it in that context." _

"Yeah," Jacqueline messed with a piece of string hanging loosely from her pants, thinking back on the conversation she had with him the previous night. "I told him about Peggy." The only response Jacqueline got was a hum, signaling for her to continue. "The moment I told him that she was alive, it was like—his face just lit up, you know? I just saw so much." She didn't know exactly how to articulate how it made her feel. "I don't know how to explain it. I just saw so much on his face."

_ "Did you tell him everything about Peggy?" _

"That she got married and had kids…yeah, I did."

She could hear her mother hesitate for a moment,  _ "How did he react to that?" _

Thinking back, Jacqueline thought that his reaction would be completely different. The one she got was rather surprising. "He actually reacted really well. I mean, he said that he was happy that she had moved on."

_ "Do you believe it?" _

Jacqueline shrugged and ripped off the loose string, "I think he genuinely is. But, it would be completely understandable if there was a little bitterness as well. Not towards Peggy, just bitter to the fact that he couldn't move on as well." Balancing the phone between her ear and shoulder, Jacqueline leaned back against the couch. "I don't know; this whole experience is just a little…different."

_ "Well, I am glad you're managing it." _

"Me too." Jacqueline bit her lip, the more that Kathleen was talking, the more tired she sounded. "I told him about Grandma Addie."

Kathleen sucked in a breath, not saying anything for a good few minutes. “ _ How did he react? _ ”

“Better than I thought. He got really quiet when I told him she passed away.” 

Kathleen only hummed in response. Addie has always been a sensitive subject for her. Jacqueline avoided bringing her grandmother up in conversations as much as possible. “Mom, you sound really tired, you should get some sleep.”

_ "I'll be fine." _ Her voice was hoarse and low.  _ "But, I'll let you go now. I love you." _

"I love you too, mom. Tell dad I love him."

_ "I will sweetie. I'll talk to you later." _

She kept the phone to her ear until she heard the call end. Immediately after, a sinking feeling settled in her stomach. If only things were different.

* * *

 

Jacqueline tucked the book under her arm as she unlocked the door to the safe house. Stepping inside, it was quiet which is what she expected. Perhaps he was still sleeping, might give her a chance to make him breakfast. She placed the book down on the kitchen island and out of the peripheral of her vision, she saw the TV was on and paused on a certain scene.

Turning her head, she recognized the scene from the documentary she had brought. "What,"

Footsteps came around the corner of the hallway and Steve stepped out, stopping once he saw Jacqueline standing in the kitchen. At the same time, her attention focused on him and for a moment they both stood there. Both acting like they were caught off guard by all of this.

"Good morning." Jacqueline finally broke the brief silence between them. The silent standing was starting to make her heart pound against her chest.

"Morning," Steve replied.

Jacqueline gestured at the television screen, "You started watching the rest of the documentary."

"Yeah. I was up and thought that I would just get started on it again." He paused and narrowed his eyes, "I hope you don't mind."

"No, of course not. You're not obligated to wait for me or anything. But, you worked the DVD player on your own."

"I watched you set it up the first time. Of course, there was a bit of trial and error."

"Right." Of course, he did. How else would he have known what do to?

She moved her attention back to the kitchen table, about to tell him that she had finished the book when she paused. One of the sketchbooks she had given to him was lying open. Curious, she reached over and pulled the book over to her. He'd already started putting them to good use. The sketches were of familiar images: buildings in New York, a faint sketch of Central Park, shop windows. These were all sights they passed on their way to the plane. But, she had to admit, these sketches were really good. Better than anything she could muster up.

"These are really good," she marveled, turning the pages, admiring every work that came up. "Better than anything I could ever draw."

"How long have you been drawing?"

Jacqueline paused and laughed, "I think the word  _ draw  _ is too strong a word for what I was capable of. I liked to doodle. But, it was nothing like this." She continued on and noticed that quite a few of the pages were filled. She looked up, seeing that Steve was silently watching her scanning over his work. "You drew quite a bit in this sketchbook already," she saw Steve's face softened as he nodded his head and then, she cringed slightly. "I'm guessing you didn't get that much rest last night."

"I think I've had enough rest for now. I mean, I did try. But, I just couldn't. So, I just drew and then I came out here and," his voice trailed off.

Jacqueline pressed her lips tightly and nodded. He was up all night, then. Glancing back down at the pages, she admired the last image one more time before closing the book. "Well, I'm glad they're being used properly, instead of collecting dust on my desk. But, I did finish this," Jacqueline reached over and picked up the book she had brought. "So, if you wanted to get started on it," she handed it over to him. "It's all yours."

One more thing that can occupy his time at night so that he wouldn't sleep. Honestly, sleep was one of the things he was trying to avoid. Too much was rattling around his head. Closing his eyes would only give all of it free range. "Did you get enough rest last night?" His question threw her off. He saw the confused look when he glanced up at her. "I mean, you seemed exhausted when we flew out here."

"Oh, right," She cleared her throat having forgotten about that little event that happened. "I guess you could say that sleep isn't exactly being cooperative with me."

It was not hard to notice. Steve took in on how heavy her eyes looked, not just that. But, it was the way she was holding her stance. Her shoulders were slumped and one of her hands was pressed against the table, giving her some kind of support to keep her upright. "It seems like it's been happening for a while." He inquired.

"Yeah, this happens every month or so. My sleep schedule just kind of goes off kilter and it takes a few weeks for it to calibrate."

Sounded familiar. There were times, before the war, when sleep didn't happen for Steve. Whether it was his illnesses keeping him up or his own mind, this was something he found some relation with. "If you need to, you can go and rest. You don't have to be up."

"No," she quickly interrupted, shaking her head in the process. "No, it's okay. I'm fine. Once we get going here, I'll start to wake up. How far did you get on this one?" She pointed over at the television screen.

"I've been watching it for a few hours." He wasn't entirely sure how far he was in this particular episode.

"You're probably almost done then. You're watching the one on the 50's right?" Steve nodded. "I think the plan for today is to try and finish all of these."

"You really think we'll be able to?"

"If we get started right now, we probably will."

….

Jacqueline was starting to regret her decision to let Steve watch this documentary. It probably would have been a better choice to just select certain events and explain them. But she thought, why the hell not? They were going to be here for a while, might as well give him an entire rundown of what happened. However, she never factored in that each segment was about two hours long, that was just the minimum. A few of them are just a little over three hours long.

_ Why did I ever think this was a good idea? _

There was really only one thing Jacqueline could find as a positive, the 60's was when things got interesting. In terms of events, it was one of the decades that was easy for her to learn in school. She was rather selective, through no fault of her own, when it came to what interested her. She took notice of the fact that Steve was asking questions, more than usual. Not that she minded. She preferred it, actually. It helped to keep her awake and focused.

But, with each hour ticking slowly and only getting up to switch out the dvd's, Jacqueline felt herself starting to succumb to her exhaustion. That was both good and bad. It was good because this means that her schedule will normalize after this. The bad thing is there was a chance that she was going to fall asleep. Right here, right now. She had to get through this, besides, it would be a little rude if she just fell asleep in the middle of the documentary. Sitting on the couch wasn't helping her in this situation.

Once mid-afternoon hit, Jacqueline occupied herself with messing around in the kitchen. Even when Steve offered to help, she politely declined, telling him that it would be best if he just watched the rest of the documentary. She just needed to move around. As long as she was moving, keeping herself occupied, she would stay awake.

She managed to pull something together, despite the fact that her vision merged together a few times. That freaked her out a little, especially since she was using knives in the kitchen. Not something she would recommend someone doing; handling knives when they are on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. It was extremely lucky that she didn't accidentally cut herself. But, her plan had worked. Bustling about helped wake her up and with conversations sprouting up between her and Steve, it was helping to take the edge off of her exhaustion. And it remained that way until they finally reached the last episode of the documentary.

Jacqueline checked the time. 11:30 p.m. This thing still had another hour or so left. And she was growing tired, this time it was a wave that washed over her. The heaviness grew in her eyes and every muscle in her body relaxed.

_ No, come on. Stay awake. _

Her head bobbed several times. She tried fighting it. Every act against it only made her feel more tired. Usually, she was at home when this started. That allowed her to just fall asleep without hesitation. She was in a different situation at the moment. She just had to get through the rest of this.

She focused her eyes on the screen, watching the images flash to different scenes. Gradually, the narrator's voice grew muffled, like she was in a tunnel, until the voice descended into nothing. Simultaneously, her vision blurred and her lids closed all the way. There was no chance of stopping it this time. She was out.

Steve didn't notice she had fallen asleep until he had finished the program. When he glanced over, she was curled up; knees to her chest and head resting on the couch arm. Instead of waking her up, Steve chose to leave her alone. There was no point in having her go back to her place. She was more than welcome to sleep here. Steve placed one of the spare blankets on top of her, ensuring he didn't do anything to wake her. After turning off the TV, he retreated back to his room thinking--hoping, that he might get some decent rest tonight.

* * *

She awoke with a jolt. Her eyelids slowly opened; her vision, at first blurry, gradually grew clear and she did a quick scan of the room. Immediately, she knew that this wasn't her room back at the other location. Then, where the hell was she? Her brows furrowed upon her recollection of the previous night and her body eased when she finally remembered. She had fallen asleep. Her hand pressed against her forehead, "Good job, Jackie." She muttered to herself, voice still groggy from having just woken up.

It was then that she took notice of the blanket that was covering her.  _ Okay, that's weird. _ Her hand grabbed hold of the fabric, tired eyes examining it and she recalled, specifically, that she didn't fall asleep with this thing on her. Then it dawned on her, Steve must have covered her with it. All of a sudden, Jackie felt herself smile. She didn't know why; it wasn't like it was an uncommon thing that people did. Still, it made her smile. But the minute she thought about Steve, she felt guilty. The last thing she wanted to do was fall asleep and she did just that.

Groaning at the disappointment she felt with herself, Jacqueline felt around for her cell phone, she pulled it out from her pocket to read the time. 10:30 a.m. That was a fairly decent time. Not only that, she felt amazing. Having finally gotten a full night's sleep has made her feel rejuvenated. Now, she doesn't have to worry about feeling exhausted when she went to work or when she did anything.

Using the back edge of the couch as support, Jacqueline pulled herself into a sitting position and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. All the while, soft footsteps appeared from the hallway and when she pulled her hand away, the image of Steve was what greeted her.

"Good morning."

The greeting made her smile, "Hi," she then gestured at the couch, "sorry about falling asleep here last night. You should've just woke me up so that I could get out of here."

Steve shrugged, he really saw no reason why. "It's fine. You seemed really tired yesterday, I didn't want to wake you up."

"Well, I'm sorry about just falling asleep out of nowhere. I was really trying my best to keep myself awake."

"You don't need to apologize." He paused for a moment and then continued, "do you feel better?"

"Fortunately, I do. Now, I have about another month or so, before this happens again." But, she might be lucky. There have been a few times where she had gone months without having her schedule thrown off. She just didn't understand her body, or her mind, or why it did any of this.

Jacqueline allowed herself to really look at Steve and something about him struck her. He looked haunted. Shoulders were slumped in their posture and his eyes looked red and—swollen? She swallowed hard, it looked like he might have been crying? No, it couldn't be from that, but maybe it was. It was either from crying or lack of sleep. But, she was leaning more towards the first choice.

Steve, although it was faint, grew visibly uncomfortable with her just staring at him. She wasn't trying to make him feel off. She was just trying to figure out what was wrong. Asking him would be a whole lot better than just staring at him.

"Are you alright?" Her question threw him off for a few seconds. It made him look lost, like he didn't know how to respond to her. He finally gave her a small nod, but she wasn't convinced. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

Steve remained quiet. At first, he kept his eyes off of her, choosing to simply stare at the ground. He was so still, it honestly worried her. That worry slightly diminished when he looked at her and shook his head. Something happened last night. Scraping her teeth against her lip, she pondered silently. She couldn't just move on like she hadn't noticed his appearance. It would bother her all day if she didn't do something about it, or more specifically if she didn't do anything for him.

She thought about what they could do. Maybe start one of the films she brought with her. But, when she took another glance at his appearance, probably not. She started taking simple notes. He hasn't gotten much, if not any, sleep since he woke up. And he's been cooped up in this safe house since they arrived. That's when the idea hit her. "You want to go take a walk with me?" It was a simple thing for them to do. The only thing he’s done the past few days was staying cooped up in the safe house, not leaving its confines. Maybe some fresh air might make him feel better?

He was quiet and hesitant. Mostly since he didn't know exactly what he needed. "It's really nice around here," she tried again, hoping to get him to agree to her offer. "We don't have to worry about anyone finding us."

Maybe a walk is what he needed right now. It took him a moment, but Steve ultimately agreed with her offer. She also had a plan of her own. Perhaps getting him out and walking around for a bit might offer her the right moment to really ask him how he is. Steve's trust with her is still fragile, the foundation only having been created a few days ago. So, having someone you don't really know trying to act like a therapist or a close friend, might be off-putting. But she was willing to try. Like she said, she was willing to help him in any way that she could. This was a moment for her to truly come through with that declaration.

It took Jacqueline a moment to balance herself. Her body was still trying to wake up. When they both were set, they headed out of the safe house and proceeded to walk along the banks of the lake. There was a path that allowed them to walk the entire perimeter and they did. Quite a few times actually. They didn't say anything to each other. Mostly due to the fact that Jacqueline wanted to give him space. Not wanting to make him talk if he wasn't ready to. She got a sense that Steve was trying to calm himself, trying to get himself back into the right head space. Whatever happened last night, it must have affected him, deeply. It wasn't until their fifth time around the perimeter did Steve finally talk.

"You said that you know Peggy." They didn't stop their walking, just slowed their pace. Jacqueline dug her hands into her sweater pockets and nodded in response. "And both of your parents know her?"

Time to start spilling a little bit more of information. Not a problem. "Yeah, I mean I mom has known Peggy her entire life. My dad didn’t meet Peggy until he started dating my mom. But they both helped her with various projects during the 70’s and 80’s."

In the process of talking about Peggy, the image of Howard popped into her head. He was someone that Steve knew as well. Howard had always called Steve a friend whenever the latter came into a discussion. Without really thinking about it, she switched the topic onto the subject of the late Stark. "My parents were also good friends with Howard as well. I spent quite a bit of my childhood at his residence."

This made Steve curious and the raised eyebrow was proof of that. "Why were you staying at his residence?"

"After I was born, my parents were still determined to do their jobs. So, I bounced around a lot from staying with my grandfather and staying with Howard. That was when they would work or go on missions." It wasn't something she thought about a lot, but it was a very prominent point in her early childhood. Her parents were absent, almost constantly. While she did miss them, Jacqueline found comfort with being in the company of Howard and, more specifically, Tony. "Howard and his family, well, they became like family to me. Especially, his son Tony."

Steve nodded. He had read about Tony while he was back at headquarters. He became CEO of Stark Industries after Howard's death, and his capture by terrorists in Afghanistan. But, it wasn't just Tony that Steve read about. It was then that he learned of Howard's fate. "Before we came up here, Fury gave me a file on Howard. I read that he and his wife passed away."

_ Oh _ . The statement made them both go silent. Jacqueline wasn't planning on talking about this. The subject of Howard and Maria's death wasn't one that she ever wanted to talk about. She didn't have whole memories of that time, just small bits of certain things. "I remember just small things about that time," she said. "I was only like six years old. I was at home and my parents were very upset. As a kid, it was always easy for me to notice when something was off with them. But, they never told me, not at first. They kept me away from it." Jacqueline went quiet. The memories, however few there were, still held the heavy emotion with them. "Their son Tony, I didn't see him for a few weeks."

"Your parents kept all of that from you…for weeks?"

"No," she quickly answered, feeling the sudden need to defend her parents' decision. "They told me a few days after Howard and his wife passed away. They weren't really sure how to tell me. They just needed time. But, I just never saw Tony. It was only a few weeks, but as a kid it felt like forever."

They both stopped along the edge of the lake. There was a thick emotion that was surrounding them—it was somber. Talking about death and loss wasn't something that she ever wanted to talk to Steve about, especially this early on. Given the fact that he's lost so much, talking about it can't be easy for him. Not one bit. But when he brought up the subject it all just sort of spilled out. She couldn't really help herself.

"When I finally saw him, it was after his parents had been buried, but everything was different. He was different, for a while. He was quieter around me…more reserved. Around others, he put on a completely different facade." After that, she finally stopped, thinking why she didn't stop sooner. Looking over at Steve, his face said it all. God, she felt even more guilty now. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to talk about any of this. I'm sure that doesn't really make you feel any better."

"No, it's fine. I'm the one who brought it up." He quietly assured her. "It's what keeps me up at night."

It took a moment, but the meaning behind his words finally clicked for her. She turned her attention to him, he didn't make eye contact with her. "What do you mean?"

Keeping his gaze on the tree line, he didn't answer her right away. Probably was regretting that he had even said anything. It should have been a clue to her that he didn't wish to go further. But, being the kind of person she is, Jacqueline took a chance. "Steve, I know that we don't really know each other. Your trust with me is still new and I know this isn't my job, but if you need to talk about anything. I'm more than willing to listen."

Jacqueline was actually scared. He went quiet, not moving or saying anything. She was scared that her offer to help would be turned down. But, why would she be scared about that? It had to do with how vulnerable she felt. She's had no emotional, or mental, guard up when it came to Steve. The entire time, she has been nothing but open with him. Telling him about her life, her parents, and other various information. Being this open with someone she hardly knew was surprising to her. But, there was something about Steve that held a sense of familiarity. Like she has known him her entire life. The only thing she knew about Steve was what was said to her. She supposed that keeping herself that open made her prone to anxiety. She has seen him emerge back into the subjects of his past. The only thing that Jacqueline wanted to do was help him. The idea that her offer could be rejected, nerved her to no end. She hated how vulnerable this all made her feel.

Steve, on the other hand, was questioning himself. Should he trust her with this information? Ever since waking up, there has been no one he was willing to talk to. At least, not about what he was experiencing mentally. He remembers it all. He remembers their faces and voices. All of the missions he went on with the Howling Commandos. The memory of watching Bucky fall has been seared into his mind. His first and last kiss with Peggy and her voice being the last thing he heard before it all went black.

Every night, since he woke up, it's all he would see when he closed his eyes. And how it made him feel was so complex for him to interpret. But, anger was always the main emotion that could be picked out. Just pure anger. And he hated the way it made him feel, how easily anger could consume a person. He couldn't help but wonder, was his anger valid? He sacrificed himself to save others, does he really have a right to be angry about it? He wasn't sure, he needed to know.

"It's everything; the war, Peggy, Addie…Bucky. Every time I try to sleep I always see them. I see what my life was before I crashed into the ice. I think about how they looked for me and never found me. Then having to move on from that." He took in a slow, calming breath. Forcing himself to verbally speak what he was feeling made it feel raw. Made it feel more real. "I have to admit; I can't help but think about how unfair it is. Why did everyone get to move forward, except for me? I should have been able to."

God, it made him feel so self-centered. He saved lives as Captain America, he was able to save thousands more by crashing the Valkyrie. He doesn't regret that. Except, the more he thought about it, there was a small inkling of regret, in the pit of his stomach. What does that say about him? "Sounds really selfish of me, doesn't it?"

"No, it makes sense." She didn't have to think about her answer because this is what she truly thought on that matter. "Listen, I can't say that I understand how you feel without it being a lie, because I don't. I've never been in your situation before, so I can't imagine what all of this must be like for you." Was it selfish of him to think this? Some might think, yes. But, Jacqueline always viewed selfishness as a complex emotion that has various degrees. "But, I do know this. You've been frozen for almost seventy years. You weren't given the opportunity to live a full life with the people you care about. It isn't fair and I mean it when I say that I'm sorry that this happened to you. No one deserves that." She really didn't feel like this was making him feel better. Or maybe it did, she couldn't read his mind. Glancing over at him, all she could decipher was that he was taking her words into consideration. That's all. But, it was enough to know that she was being heard. "But, you call it selfish then so be it. If I can be perfectly honest, you have every right to be selfish right now. Be selfish. Be angry. Let yourself feel it. It will help with the healing process."

Did he feel any better? Steve wasn't entirely sure. But, knowing that she finds validity in how he felt made the weight on his shoulders a little lighter. The moment he woke up, he felt alone. He knew no one and didn't recognize that world he currently lives in. Jacqueline is the only person he's been able to establish some form of bond with. And having her with him has made all of this more of a smooth transitioning. This also made him think back to what Jacqueline had said to him during their first meeting.  _ We're on your side, Captain Rogers. _ And for the first time, he was starting to actually believe that statement.

 


	5. A Heartfelt Promise

**** It was strange. Sitting on a plane that was taking them back to New York. They only spent about a week up at the safe house. And now they had to fly back to New York. He didn't outwardly admit it to her, but he'd rather stay at the safe house. During their stay, he had grown accustomed to having Jacqueline around him and got used to the routine that was set in stone. He would wake up from what little sleep he had gotten the night before and she would be there. Eagerly waiting to start the plan for the day. That plan involved messing around in the kitchen and watching the films she had brought. Unfortunately, they didn't get to all of them. But they were rather interesting films. Some were comedies, some were dramas. It didn't really matter to Steve, he found enjoyment in the ones that they did watch.

But time went by fast. That was such a cliché thing for someone to think, but there was truth in that statement. Everything had been going accordingly. Then, Jacqueline received a call from Fury, she and Steve were to fly back out to New York. SHIELD had finally obtained a place for Steve to stay. Fury was right, It didn't take them more than a week to sort things out. However, she felt that the time at the safe house was too short. Now, she was on a plane heading back to civilization, back to work. She really didn't want to head back, at least not right now. Fury had told her that this wasn't a vacation. But hell, it actually felt like it.

Things shifted slightly for the two of them. After their talk, the dynamic between Steve and Jacqueline changed. It wasn't much, but it was a formidable change. Every day after that conversation she would ask him if he slept through the night. Without going into a lot of detail, he would explain bits of what he dreamt about, or what was mentally plaguing him. She wouldn't talk during it, giving Steve all the time he needed to get it off his chest. There were moments when he could catch himself and prevent himself from saying any more. There was quite a bit he was keeping from her, despite that, this is what Jacqueline considered to progress. There had been a foggy awkwardness lingering after their first meeting. Then, getting shipped off to a safe house together didn't diffuse it at all. It was their talk at the lake that helped break down that wall. She wouldn't say that he completely trusted her all the way, but maybe it was heading in that direction.

On the plane ride back, Jacqueline showed Steve his SHIELD issued phone and did another run through with how to properly use it. Showed him how to makes calls and how to send text messages. No contacts in his phone aside from SHIELD, but at least it was something for him to communicate with. She also had to inform him of what was going to take place once they land.

"So, they finally found a place for you to stay at." She explained. "It's just a simple apartment, it should be enough for you to get situated. Once we land there will be another agent that will drive you to the location."

Immediately, he was confused. He didn't try to hide the look from his face as he stared at her. "Another agent? You're not taking me there?"

Jacqueline paused and gave a small smile, "No, Fury wants to see me once we land. So, he assigned for another agent to take care of you."

Silence.

Steve's gaze remained on her, searching for something, she wasn't quite sure what he was looking for. A few more seconds of silence and he finally nodded his head in compliance before turning his attention out the plane window.  _ Okay, that was a little odd.  _ Jacqueline's brow furrowed, taking a few moments to assess him, she didn't know what to make of that reaction.

Upset? No. Was he disappointed? No, that can't be it. Why would he be disappointed?

She went to say something, but stopped and snapped her mouth shut. The option was poking at her mind. Try and figure it out, or just leave it alone. Going for the latter option, she tried not to think about it. But it continuously bugged her, especially when she tried to ignore it all together. That never actually makes things go away, it only intensifies them. She tried to sit through them by reading a book. That didn't do anything for her and she didn't get that far into her book.

About five hours later, the plane touched down in New York. Two SUV's were waiting for them on the tarmac; one for Jacqueline and one for Steve. Their bags were unloaded by the agents and placed in their respective cars. After stepping off the plane, Jacqueline tried to ease whatever tension had formed between them during the flight.

She offered a smile once he was standing in front of her. "The car over there is yours," Steve turned to the direction that she motioned at. There, he saw two agents standing next to the SUV, waiting for him. "I know them, you'll be fine. They'll drive you to your apartment and help you settle in."

Steve turned back to her and nodded. He looked perplexed like he was trying to figure out what to say to her. He could tell her what he was actually thinking, but decided against it. Fury needed to see her. She needed to leave. "Thank you."

Her smile broadened. "You don't need to thank me."

At that moment, Steve cracked the faintest smile. He had thanked her many times during their stay up in Vancouver. Jacqueline always alternated her answer between 'you're welcome', and 'you don't need to thank me'. She never seemed to be annoyed by it, even though he felt like he was annoying her with the constant gratitude he was showing. But she never was. Rather, she found it amusing.

But time was of the essence and this was proven once again when one of the agents walked up to Jacqueline and said, "Agent, the Director is waiting."

Giving a single nod, she dismissed the agent and looked back at Steve. "As I said, you're in good hands with those guys. You'll be fine." She repeated the words, hoping that Steve trusted them.

His smile completely faded, which was jarring for her. Without saying another word, Steve turned and began the walk towards the car that was waiting for him. Jacqueline watched for a second more before being escorted towards her vehicle. Not even halfway, she paused and looked back at Steve's retreating form. His hands were stashed in his pockets and his head was down. She recognized it immediately, the way his shoulders tensed. He was anxious, uncertain. That's when it hit her, his inquiry about her not being the one to go with him.

She felt a little stupid. She should have been able to notice it when they were on the plane. He was going to be in the company of people he didn't know. That was most likely an unsettling thing. When he reached the SUV, Jacqueline broke out into a sprint in his direction. Fury probably wasn't going to be happy with what she was about to do, but she felt it was necessary. The agent who was speaking with Steve, paused when he saw Jacqueline heading for them.

"Agent." He greeted her once she was close.

Jacqueline came to a stop, eyes completely focused on the agent in front of her, even though Steve was staring at her. And for a moment she was lost in thought, not being able to remember what she ran over here for. "Uh," she turned to look at Steve, trying to recall what she was doing. Finally, she remembered. Turning to the agent, she had a smile plastered on her face. "I will be accompanying Captain Rogers to his apartment."

The agent gave her a look, knowing perfectly well that's not where she was supposed to be. At this, Jacqueline conjured up an answer. "I am aware that Director Fury asked to see me, but tell him that I will be escorting Captain Rogers to his apartment and then I'll return to headquarters promptly afterward."

After a brief hesitant moment, the agent nodded and said over the comms as he walked over to the driver's side. "Lancer is leaving with Captain Rogers."

She felt rather good about herself. But she hoped that Fury would understand her decision. Honestly, she was willing to accept any kind of scolding he might give her. Looking over at Steve, his posture had loosened and the tension that was evident to her eyes was gone. "Shall we go see your new place?"

…

Steve's apartment was located a relative distance from headquarters. Jacqueline's apartment was not that far from his, she estimated it would be a fifteen-minute to get from one location to the other. The building itself was fine, nothing too grand just like hers. But it was decent enough. And it was rather quiet for an apartment complex. It was probably why they chose this location for him.

Jacqueline told the agents to wait in the car, she wouldn't take long. Taking the elevator up to the fourth floor, they stepped out into a dimly lit hallway and walked until they found his door. Apartment 4B. Steve took out his key and slid it into the lock. The door slowly swung open, revealing a small apartment. The sitting room was the first thing that greeted them and the kitchen was on the left. Also, the room was fairly dark, something that Jacqueline noted quickly. The source was the shades, they were drawn more than halfway down.

"Well, it's actually not that bad, still a little bigger than my place," Jacqueline commented and strolled over to the windows. Pulling the shades up, the room suddenly filled with the mid-afternoon light. Now that there was light, they were able to gain a better view of what the place looked like. She had to admit, it was a rather nice little apartment. It was enough for him, she was sure about that. Folding her arms over her chest, she glanced over at Steve who was still admiring his new home. "Is it alright?"

"More than what I'm used to," he closed the door behind him. "The place I lived in back in Brooklyn was smaller than this."

Her face softened. Moments like that were what she enjoyed the most. Hearing him mention little things about his past made it feel like it was slowly breaking new ground for them. It was small steps.

"You said that it was bigger than your place?"

His question brought her back to reality and she couldn't help but laugh at her choice of words. She probably could have chosen better words.  _ Oh well.  _ "Okay, yeah. My place is kinda small. But I'm the only one who lives there, so it's perfect for me."

Steve nodded while taking more assessments of his new home. It didn't feel like home. He felt alienated while standing in this place. He had already grown accustomed to the safe house. Now, he was going to have to make another adjustment. "You were right about one thing."

"What's that?"

"I do prefer the safe house."

She smiled at his words and Steve took notice at how full this smile was. The sides of her eyes wrinkled and her nose scrunched up. That was the first full smile he had seen from her. All the other occasions were just faint smirks. He didn't know why his statement deserved this kind of reaction, but he was rather glad it happened.

"You know, while we were up there, I remembered how Fury explained that it wasn't a vacation," she paused and shrugged her shoulders. "It actually kinda felt like one."

She slid her bag off of her shoulder and placed it down on the sitting room table. Inside had all of the movies she brought and the CD's she made for him. They didn't get through all she had brought with her. So, Jacqueline told Steve that he could keep these. Finish the movies and keep the CDs.

"Are you sure you want to leave those here?" Steve gestured at the bag on the table.

Jacqueline nodded. "You finish the movies, plus you have a lot of music to get through." She thought for a moment, then continued. "Besides, these can help pass the time."

There wasn't much for him to do. Sure, he could go out and take a walk if he wanted to. He wouldn't necessarily know where to go, or what to do. Watching movies seemed to be the only thing he could do. But Fury was waiting for her. She couldn't stay here very long. He was probably already upset that she didn't go straight to headquarters, but she would explain her side once she arrived. Giving him a hesitant look, she finally asked, "Are you going to be okay here?"

The hesitation in her eyes rubbed off onto him. Was he going to be okay? He silently asked himself the same thing. This was not the safe house. This was a new place. Another adjustment would have to be made on his part. Was he going to be okay? Most likely, yes. But, one difference was poking the edges of his mind and he blurted it out without thinking.

"I'll be fine. It's just going to be different not having you here." Jacqueline stared at Steve, a little surprised by his words, and he noticed. "I mean; I've known what the routine was going to be for over a week. It's just going to be different, waking up and not knowing what I'm going to do."

That seemed to save this conversation. Even so, she didn't seem uncomfortable by his first declaration. "Well, this won't be the last you see of me. I'll be back to check up on you periodically, see how you're doing. You'll be fine."

"Yeah."

She had to go. But to leave on this note would be so awkward and not right. Biting down on her lip, she said, "I'm gonna need to head out. Do you need anything? Is there anything I can get for you?"

_ No, well actually… _ "There is something," He wasn't sure if this request would be weird, but he continued on. "Is there any way that you could get the files on a few people? Like Peggy, Bucky. Anything about my missions in the war, or just," he shrugged at his inability to fully explain his request. "Just anything on me."

Luckily, she was able to catch onto his request. "Of course." Jacqueline didn't know whether this would be a good idea or not. Steve was the judge of himself. If he wanted to see these, then he was gonna see them. "When I go back to headquarters, I'll search for those files and get them to you as soon as I can."

Steve nodded.

"Can I see your phone?" Jacqueline reached her hand out, waiting for Steve to hand it over. When he did, she opened it and went into contacts. "I'm putting my number in your contacts. If you ever need anything, or if you have a question, or if you just need to talk. I don't care when call me if you need to." She handed the phone back over to him, asking herself why she didn't do this earlier. Probably would have made a lot of sense, she just wasn't thinking about it.

"I'll try not to abuse that offer."

"Don't worry about it." She smiled, making sure that he didn't need anything else and then walked over to the front door.

"Jacqueline." She paused, her smile grew slightly as she turned back towards him. "I've said it a lot but, thank you. For all, you've done. I know it was part of your job-- just… thanks."

"It was part of my job, but I really did want to help you. And you're welcome." She then pointed at the phone in his hand. "I mean it if you need anything call me, alright?"

"Yes, ma'am."

_ Ma'am.  _ Her smile broadened, it was a rarity when someone called her that. She would always be addressed with 'miss'. For being frozen for nearly seventy years, at least it didn't tarnish that old class charm. "I'll try and get back with the files as soon as I can."

* * *

 

_ Access Granted. _

The keypad lit up after Jacqueline swiped her I.D., unlocking the door in front of her. Pushing through, she jogged through the main lobby and towards the elevator. She was pushing the time. Fury was already made aware that she was going with Steve. Still, she didn't want to keep Fury waiting too long. Switching the plan at the last minute probably won't help her case. She bounced on her toes, watching the level number slowly go up.  _ Could this thing go any slower? _

With a  _ ding,  _ the elevator doors opened, but she didn't until they were fully open. She slipped through a wide enough opening and ran all the way down to Fury's office. Reaching his office door, she paused and took in a breath _.  _ Fury could be intimidating. When she first started working for SHIELD, it was embarrassing to admit, but she was  _ very  _ intimidated by Fury. Of course, over the years, she grew accustomed to his personality and how he approached things.

She took one last deep breath and pushed open his office door. There he was sitting at his desk mulling over files that were scattered over the table. He didn't seem like her tardiness had affected him. He was just sitting in his chair, completely still. "I thought you were supposed to be here way sooner."

Jacqueline paused at his desk and pressed her lips together. "Sorry, I'm late." That was such a weak rebuttal. She could have done better.

Abandoning the file, he looked up at her and leaned back in his chair, "They told me you took Rogers to his apartment." A mere nod was her answer. "I already had another agent assigned for that task."

"I was aware of that. But I felt that it would be much easier if I just went with him."

Fury hummed. Not in disagreement, but rather—actually she wasn't quite sure. It wasn't always an easy task to decipher what Fury was thinking. That came from being able to maintain a fantastic poker face. But, with him just staring at her, she knew that there was more for her to say. "I am sorry for just switching around the plan. It won't happen again."

He didn't respond. But, she swore that she saw the faint appearance of a smile on his face.  _ That was different.  _ "How was it?" When she gave him a confused look, Fury elaborated, "Vancouver?"

"Right." She took a brief moment to recollect what had happened the last week and a half. There was a lot, but going into detail about their conversations didn't seem right. For right now, she would keep that between her and Steve. "It was fine. A lot of watching things and explaining things. It was rather exhausting, to be honest."

"But I'm sure that it helped him out a lot."

She nodded. "It seems like it. He constantly thanked me, so I'm pretty sure that he was rather grateful for the help."

"How do you think he really is?"

There was no need for him to clarify his question. Jacqueline caught onto the full meaning of it. Depression was something that she thought of the day they left for Vancouver. She had made a mental note to talk with Fury about the matter. Perhaps getting Rogers to talk with an actual professional. "That's not something that I'll be able to answer fully, sir."

"Your best guess then."

"I mean, he's not one-hundred percent alright. He didn't get that much rest while we were up there."

"Did he talk to you about anything?"

"Not really." Her thoughts immediately went to their conversation by the lake. It wasn't that deep or revealing. But more was revealed in that conversation than she had anticipated. "We just talked. Nothing really in particular. But I think he managed to open up a little."

Fury nodded, contemplating what she had told him. "Do you think we should refer him to a psychologist?" She asked. "I'm not a doctor, but I know that all of this must have messed with him a little. Given his circumstances, anyone would be able to figure that out."

"We can't force him to do anything. If we felt that he was a harm to himself or others, then we would probably intervene."

He had a point. Jacqueline couldn't just walk in and say to Steve they were taking him to a psychologist. "Maybe we could bring it up to him. See if he would consider it. I mean, it's better than allowing him to just keep all of it bottled up inside."

Fury tilted his head to the side, suddenly curious. "You're pretty concerned about him, aren't you.?"

Was she? There was no point in lying to herself about that. There was nothing wrong with being concerned about someone. Nothing wrong at all. "I just spent a week and a half with him. Just the two of us. I've seen him vulnerable," she paused, thinking back on the morning when she saw Steve with red swollen eyes. "I know it's kind of a long stretch for me to say this. But, out of everyone working at SHIELD right now, I have a better understanding of him."

That was a really bold statement. She almost regretted it once the words left her mouth. However, there was a degree of truth in there. The only person still alive who knew Steve better than anyone was Peggy. Jacqueline has spent one-on-one time with Steve, seen him in a normal environment. He wasn't fighting or going on missions. She saw him as just Steve.

"If you want to bring the subject up to him, then go ahead. And if he agrees, we will start making preparations."

"Fine by me."

They both were at an agreement. Honestly, that was probably the fasted agreement they've ever made with each other. A calm gaze fell over Fury's face as he stared at her, almost like there was something he wasn't telling her.

Prompted by the look, Jacqueline raised her brow at him, "Are we finished here, sir?"

"Barton gave me an update on the Tesseract."

_ What? _

"Apparently, the Tesseract has been emitting activity spikes."

Jacqueline frowned. That didn't sound good. "Activity spikes? How high are the levels?"

"Barton said they were still fairly low. But this is the first time it's happened since Selvig started researching the thing."

There was something odd with the way that Fury's voice sounded. It was enough to inform her that he had some suspicions. "Do you think Selvig is the cause for it?"

"Barton's been keeping a watchful eye on him. I think I'll keep my suspicions on a low for now. If the activity increases, we'll need to fly out to the facility."

"You want me to come with you."

"That's why I'm informing you."

Jacqueline nodded. "Okay, if that happens then just let me know."

"I will." Fury gave a small gesture, "You're dismissed."

….

_ That wasn't as bad. _

Jacqueline thought as she made her way onto the elevator. She had expected Fury to go into some kind of spiel for being late. Thankfully, he seemed to be rather understanding.  _ Thank god for that.  _ As the elevator began its descent, Jacqueline stepped back and rested against the wall. Thinking back on her conversation with Fury, about possibly referring Steve to a psychologist, she had to find a logical way of approaching the topic. She couldn't just walk up to Steve and say,  _ I think you're pretty messed up and need to see a psychologist.  _ It had to be an approach that didn't seem off-putting.

Still, the information about the Tesseract bounced around her head. It was rather peculiar. The entire time SHIELD had it, they've never recorded any kind of activity spike. And then, Selvig comes in and a few short months later the thing starts to act up. Fury had his suspicions and so did she. Not that she had anything against the professor. She met him when she brought Barton to the facility. Fury had commanded her to recruit Barton to watch over the research. Selvig was an interesting guy. For a professor, he was rather laid back. He didn't seem like the kind of guy who would purposefully sabotage a cube of unworldly energy source.

The elevator stopped on the fourth floor and the doors opened to reveal an all too familiar face. Just seeing the person made Jacqueline smile. "Hey, Gab."

Gabby, who didn't expect to bump into her, grinned and hopped into the elevator. "Well, look at you! Back from your little trip with the Captain."

"Gab, please, don't start making it sound all weird."

"Why not?" The raven-haired girl questioned and mimicked Jacqueline's stance; back against the wall and arms clutching files to her chest. "It's a pretty big deal. Especially since it was with  _ Captain America, _ who up until like a week ago, everyone thought was dead."

"It was fine," Jacqueline answered, hoping that it would satisfy her friend's curiosity. But, having known Gabby for about nearly ten years, there was bound to be more questioning.

"That's a pretty stale answer. You got to spend a whole week with  _ him.  _ You've got to give me some details. What did you do? What is he like?" The grin was evident in her voice. Jacqueline didn't need to see it to know it was there.

"I don't think it would be appropriate of me to talk about this right now."

Gabby frowned. "Always wanting to be professional."

"Well, we are at work aren't we?" Jacqueline tilted her head back and glanced at Gabby, seeing the latter roll her eyes. It only made both girls smile.

"Where are you heading?"

"Archives."

"What a coincidence, me too." Gabby side-eyed her friend, "why are you heading down to archives?"

"Steve asked for some files. So, I told him that I would bring them over." Jacqueline replied, staring up at the number display.

"Oh," Gabby smirked. "So, you went with Steve to his apartment."

"Gab, stop," she cast a glance over at her friend. "Stop making a big deal out of it."

"Well, you're the only SHIELD agent who's spent an adequate amount of time with him. I just find that kind of amusing."

"Whatever you say, Gab."

The elevator dinged and opened the door to their floor. They both stepped out, their shoes clicked against the linoleum floor. The hallway had a decent amount of trafficking. That was expected. Everyone is either putting files away or retrieving files. Gabby worked as an assistant for Maria Hill and, technically, Fury as well. Most of her orders came directly from Hill. No doubt Hill asked her to take back the files that she was clutching to her chest. They swiped their cards and pushed through the archive entrance.

"What kind of files are you getting for him?"

Jacqueline, at first, ignored her friend's question as she headed for one of the aisles. "It's just some files that he wants to see." She answered, stopping in front of one of the cabinets, she pulled out the drawer and started sifting through the files.

Gabby casually sauntered over and stood on the opposite side of the cabinet. "Yes, but what are the files about?"

Jacqueline skimmed through the files, pulling out one after the other. She paused when she saw her grandmother's file, would it be a good idea to show him this? Why not? He knew her grandmother well, it wasn't like he was a total stranger. She pulled out the file and clutched it to her chest. "Is it really any of your business Gabby?"

Now, her friend was growing impatient, more on the playful side. "Oh come on. It's not like I don't know what half of these files are about."

"Do you know what every single file contains?"

"No," Gabby replied, clearly confused by this question. "And neither do you."

"Fair enough."

Gabby watched Jacqueline pull out more files. At one point, she grabbed a box for her, there was no way Jacqueline was going to carry all of those files out of here without one. With Gabby holding the box, Jacqueline placed the files in one by one. When it was completely full, and she was sure that was all the files she needed, Gabby closed the box and handed it over to Jacqueline.

"Thank you." She took the box by the handles and blew out a breath.

"You're gonna take all of that back to him." Jacqueline gave her a look,  _ obviously.  _ "Can I go?"

Jacqueline paused and then her features morphed into a questioning look. She looked at Gabby like she had said something crazy. "What, no. Why?"

"Just thought it would be interesting to meet him. Plus, it's the only thing people around have been discussing. There's so much hype around him."

Those words, it made Jacqueline groan. "You sound just like Tony."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

_ God, shut up Jackie.  _ "It's not important."

After reminding Gabby a few times, she finally went about with putting away the files she had brought with her. Partly due to her wanting to get the files to Steve and also, she was hoping it would get them off the subject of Steve for a brief moment. The two of them made only mindless chatter. Short conversations that ended fairly quickly. That is until Gabby brought up the subject of Jacqueline's father.

"Hey, how's your dad?"

Luckily, Gabby had waited until they were out of the archives. Still, it really did put a damper on the mood and she was able to sense it. But before she could apologize or change the subject, Jacqueline answered her.

"He's fine." That wasn't exactly the truth, but it wasn't a lie either. Her father wasn't in the worst possible state, but he wasn't completely fine. "I mean, fine is probably not the right word. He's managing."  _ Even that's not the right word. _

"Is there any sign that he might be getting better?" Her question was hopeful. She had grown to view Jacqueline's parents as family. They sure as hell treated her like she was their own. John's diagnosis was a shock to her system when Jacqueline first told her. And, even though there wasn't a cure, she was hopeful. Hopeful that he would get better. Wishful thinking. That's all it was.

"No. If anything, he's just slowly getting worse."

Out of extreme guilt for bringing it up, Gabby chose to keep her mouth shut. She knew better. They hardly talked about Jacqueline's father, unless he randomly came up during their discussions. Gabby always felt bad for mentioning him. Jacqueline would always assure her that it was fine. It wasn't like she could completely avoid talking about her father and why would she want to? She loved talking about him, it's just— _ fucking Alzheimer's. _

When they made it back on the elevator, Gabby decided to try and reverse what she did. "Hey, you know what? My brother Mike is coming to town soon. Why don't we all have dinner together?"

_ It sounded like a good idea. _

"I've finally mastered my mom's best Korean recipes, so you and my brother will be able to enjoy the gloriousness that is my cooking."

_ Was she really up for it? _ Jacqueline didn't know why she had to ask herself that. Spending evenings with Gabby is always entertaining. Away from work, Gabby is the most enthusiastic person Jacqueline's ever known. Not really caring what people think and sometimes doesn't have a filter on her mouth. The latter can be both amusing and embarrassing. There have been countless times where Gabby's words have garnered stares in public. Most of the time, Jacqueline laughs it off. But, every once in a while, she had to put on the mom voice with her friend.

"It sounds like fun," Jacqueline replied and upon further debate, finally said, "if nothing comes up during that time, then yeah, I'll be more than happy to have dinner with you guys."

"Awesome!" Gabby gleefully squealed. Just the slightest possibility of having dinner together made her day. Their jobs have kept them both occupied. Running into each other at work was the only interaction they would get. This whole trip to the archives is possibly one of the longest interactions they've had while working.

"Oh, by the way, have you gone to visit Peggy recently?"

_ That was kind of an out of nowhere question.  _ Pausing to watch the red floor numbers count down, she finally turned to her friend, "No." A sudden jolt of panic shot through her nerves. "Why, did something happen?"

"No," Gabby assured. "It's just that I talked with Sharon a few days ago."

Jacqueline nodded, feeling her body ease again. "How is she? Peggy?"

"Sharon said that she's doing fine. She did tell me that Peggy really wants to see you." Gabby couldn't help it; she side-eyed Jacqueline, to which her friend merely sighed.

"I know; I want to visit her but I just… not right now. I'm too busy. Plus, with the whole Steve being alive thing, it just kinda makes things… _ different _ . I don't know how it just does."

"No, I understand what you mean," Gabby hummed to herself. "Well, if you don't want to visit her yet, you could at least give her a call."

Jacqueline cringed at the subtle message behind Gabby's words. "I have been pretty neglectful, haven't I?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Jackie. You know what everyone says; real life always gets in the way of everything. I'm pretty sure Peggy would understand that."

Probably. No, Gabby was right. Peggy was perhaps one of the most understanding people Jacqueline has ever known. Still, she felt guilty. Not being able to fly out to Washington due to her schedule was one thing. Not being able to maintain phone calls was unacceptable in her mind. That's what she was going to do later. She was going to call Peggy.

* * *

 

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry for the lack of phone calls and visits," Jacqueline pushed through her apartment door, closed it with her foot, and set down her keys on the table. "Things have just been slowly getting more hectic at work."

Peggy chuckled softly on the other end, _"You don't have to explain it to me. I know exactly how SHIELD_ _is like."_ Jacqueline smiled, of course, she would, she helped found the organization. _"Don't worry about coming out to visit. Just being able to talk to you on the phone is good enough for me."_

That guilt she had felt earlier, some of it melted away from hearing those words. But, when Peggy went into a coughing fit, a bit of it slowly came back. "I promise I'll come out to see you soon."

_ "It's okay, dear." _ Peggy cleared her throat several times, trying to regain her voice.  _ "How is everything? Work? Your father?" _

"Work is fine. Just quite a bit has been going on," Peggy hummed again, knowing exactly what she was talking about. "And my dad," she paused and settled herself down on the couch. "He's not getting any better. But, he's fine."

Jacqueline always found it sadly ironic when she spoke about her father with Peggy. Peggy's memories of her father were still well intact. Her father on the other hand, not so much. It's a lot harder for him to recall memories. Especially ones that happened early on in his life. Peggy was one of those memories, as was Howard. "I've asked my mom if we should consider putting him in a home, she doesn't want to hear any of that."

" _ Your mother just wants to take care of him. She wants him to be safe." _

"It's not like he can't be safe living in a home." Jacqueline quietly recounted. The decision to move Peggy into a home was a hassle free decision. She understood it was done to help her so that she could live more comfortably and get round the clock care. That's all Jacqueline wants for her father. Her mother was just a stubborn woman.

" _ I wouldn't argue with your mother on this matter," _ Peggy advised, she knew Kathleen all too well. She's been a witness to that woman's determination and stubbornness.  _ "You know that it won't end with you winning that argument." _

"No, I know."

" _ Tony called me earlier last week," _ Jacqueline's attention spiked at this and her brow raised up in curiosity.  _ "He said that you were in Vancouver with Steve." _

Peggy's voice softened and tapered off towards the end. But, Jacqueline has wished that Tony didn't say anything. She wanted to be the one to tell Peggy. "Yeah, I was."

" _ I still can't believe it… _ he's alive _." _

The current moment felt bittersweet. For almost seventy years, Peggy grieved for Steve. Rightfully believing that he was dead, she worked hard to sustain his legacy and memory, all the while battling her own personal heartache. Now, after all these years, she learns that he was still alive. Jacqueline wasn't there when she heard this information. She could only imagine that Peggy was most likely shell-shocked by it. Now she had him back, relatively speaking.

" _ How is he?" _

She didn't want to worry Peggy. Jacqueline had her own concerns when it came to Steve. Before returning to her apartment, she stopped by Steve's place to drop off the files. He had tried watching one of the movies she had left, only to abandon it halfway through. She didn't stay long. He looked exhausted, lack of sleep was catching up to him. He looked drained, beaten like he could hardly keep himself up straight. Jacqueline decided to leave and let him sleep, making sure to remind him that he could call her if he needed anything. But, hopefully, he'll be too busy sleeping through the night to call her.

"He's," She was trying to think of what to say to her. Jacqueline didn't want to lie, yet she didn't want Peggy to be concerned. She finally settled for something in the middle. "Physically, he's fine. He was a little tired when I last checked up on him. Mentally, I'm not sure. I know that none of this can be easy for him."

" _ No, it can't be," _ Peggy breathed out, the sadness was dripping from her voice.  _ "It's a miracle, really." _

Memories of Peggy telling Jacqueline stories about him came hurling back at her. The love and care she saw in Peggy's eyes when she spoke of him. Just thinking about it, combining with talking to her, it made her choke up. She didn't know why. "He wants to come and see you." Jacqueline paused and cleared her throat, she heard the way her voice wavered. "I told him he was more than welcome to, but I thought I should let him decide on his own time."

" _ It's for the best, the last thing you want to do is crowd around him." _

Jacqueline nodded. On the other end of the line, she could hear a woman's voice in the background. Most likely Peggy's nurse who made daily rounds.  _ "Jacqueline, I need you to promise me something."  _ The way Peggy's voice sounded, she knew that this conversation was going to end soon.

"Of course, anything Peggy."

" _ Stay close to him." _ She blinked at Peggy's words, a little gobsmacked by them. A reply was forming in her throat when Peggy spoke again.  _ "I trust you to help him, make sure that he's alright. Don't let him go through all of this on his own. Promise?" _

Her teeth bit down on her bottom lip. She sounded so genuine. Genuine worry and care. The only thing Jacqueline latched onto was that Peggy was trusting her with this. She was trusting her that Steve would be fine under her watch. That was the only motivation she needed. "I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you all think about that teaser for the new Avengers film??? I'm pretty excited for the film, especially with what I have planned for this story! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!


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